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VIII, 



THE 



OREGON TERRITORY, 



BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN FUR TRADE. 



WITH Ax\ ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE 

PRINCIPAL NATIVE TRIBES ON THE NORTHERN 

CONTINENT. 



BY JOHN DUNN, 

LATE OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY; EIGHT YEARS A 
RESIDENT IN THE COUNTRY. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

G. B. ZIEBER & CO. 

1845. 






S 







C. SHEUMAN, PRINTEil 



PREFACE. 



.HALL not encumber the reader with a tedious detail 
of my motives in publishing- this work ; or of its scheme 
and plan. This is a kind of egotism, and currying favour 
with the reader, already carried to g-reat excess. But I 
shall state a few facts — due to myself to give, and to the 
reader to know. 

Having been articled to the Hudson's Bay Company, 
I left my father's home in London, in their ship, the 
Ganymede, for their settlements on the Pacific. It is 
needless for me to give any account of our outward 
voyage (though I met with some strange adventures) to 
the Sandwich Islands — at which we stopped for a short 
time ; and thence to the Columbia river. Having arrived 
at the western head-quarters of the Company — Fort Van- 
couver ; on the northern shore of the river, ninety miles 
from its mouth — I was placed in the fort, in the situ- 
ation of assistant storekeeper. After remaining in the 
fort nearly a year, I was commissioned to proceed north- 
ward, in the Company's ships, on trading and exploring 
expeditions ; threading, in our various courses, the whole 
of the vast labyrinth of gulfs, sounds, straits, bays, and 
inlets, that interlace the whole of the Pacific shore, for 
many hundred miles inland, and along many degrees of 
latitude. Here I was in the character of trader and in- 
terpreter ; and assisted at the erection of several forts in 
various parts of the country, never before occupied. I 
then returned to the Columbia ; and was placed, for some 
time, in charge of Fort George, near the mouth of the 
river — now an outpost attached to Vancouver — the famous 
1* 



Astoria, so n?uch vaunted of by the Americans, as their 
settlement ; from which they once threatened, to use 
Washington Irving-'s phrase, to "sweep the Pacific;" and 
spread their internal trade througfh the Canadas, and the 
Polar Circles ; and banish the Britishers as traders, if 
not as residents, from the whole northern continent — a 
boastful threat, which they have signally failed to execute. 
They made, however, every endeavour to realize this 
most ardent wish of their hearts, but have been com- 
pletely foiled. In place of being the expellers, they are 
themselves, in a great measure, the expelled — the result 
of their own irregular mode of dealing, and cupidity ; 
which have roused against them the distrust, indignation, 
and hatred of the natives. 

Having spent eight years in the Company's service, I 
was induced, by my father, who had otiier projects in 
store for me, to return home. 

On my return, although I was, from my knowledge of 
those Americans that traded on the coast, or had squatted 
in the southwestern part of Oregon, or have lately been 
employed by the Company as trappers, prepared to hear 
any monstrous assumptions of right set forth by the 
American populace, through their loco foco organs of the 
press, I did not expect tliat tl}e respectable portion of the 
press — much less that their functionaries, and ministers of 
state, even up to the president — would echo the opinions 
of the rabble that controls the legislature. But to my 
surprise, I found that the subject was viewed by them 
through the democratic spectacles. 

At the opening of Congress, in 1843, the President, 
without any previous provocation to the declaration ; but 
from the desire, if not the necessity, too characteristic of 
American presidents and governments, of pandering to 
the passions and feelings of the multitude from whom 
they derive their periodical being — volunteered the an- 
nouncement to the whole world, that the whole territory 
is American, and that American it will be preserved and 



maintained. But this is not merely the averment of the 
President ; but the whole current of a most vehement 
debate runs in support of this fraudulent assertion of a 
claim. Says the President : — 

" The territory of tlie United States, commonly called 
the Orcg-on territory, lying on the Pacific Ocean, north of 
the 42d degree of latitude, to a portion of which Great 
Britain lays claim, begins to attract the attention of our 
fellow-citizens ; and the tide of population which has re- 
claimed what was lately an unbroken wilderness in more 
contiguous regions, is preparing to flow over those vast 
districts which stretch from the Rocky Mountains to the 
Pacific Ocean." 

I published, in The Times, and other leading periodi- 
cals, on the appearance of this document, an exposition 
of the true facts of the case. My statement became the 
subject of many articles ; and the British people awoke 
to a true knowledge of their interests, which the Ameri- 
cans v/ished to wrest from them. I showed, that up to 
1814, they never claimed more than the right of joint 
occupancy — that after tlie Florida treaty, they took a 
bolder tone, and claimed exclusive right — that in 1827, 
they never ventured to claim beyond the 49th degree. 
But now they take a bolder tone still ; and, on the gambling 
principle of " all or nothing," claim up to the Russian 
frontier. 

As there was no work lately published by an English- 
man descriptive of the country, and the relative position 
of parties : and as the books already published hy flying 
American travellers, who had picked up their accounts 
piecemeal, in difi:erent parts, are strongly tinged by pre- 
judice ; I imagined that a true and dispassionate account 
of the whole country would tend to place the question on 
its proper basis. I thought then — and this thought v/as 
strengthened by some judicious friends, who had seen 
the several statements that I published, and had examined 
my rough log-book — that if I had given a fair and dis- 



passionate view of the Oregon territory ; and of the 
relative position, and social pretensions of the contending 
parties ; the British public, being awakened to the sub- 
ject, would be enabled to come to a sound judgment on 
the whole question. 

Though I have not given the whole amount of my 
notes, I am persuaded that this book will convey a fairer, 
and more concentrated impression, than all the American 
factious books that have been hitherto published on the 
subject. 

It is true that this book occasionally portrays some 
dark features in the American character ; but let the 
reader clearly observe, that in depicting the American 
character, I quote American authority ; and that in show- 
ing the weakness of their pretensions to the country, I 
quote historical and diplomatical facts — facts not ques- 
tionable by the Americans themselves. 

In brief, and in simple truth, my object is to give the 
British public an honest, and, as to loading character- 
istics, a full, account of the Oregon country. I had ano- 
ther object in view, which was, to give an account of the 
British North American Fur Trade — of which there has 
been no consecutive account hitherto given. 



THE 

OREGON TERRITORY, 

AND THE 

BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN FUR TRADE. 



CHAPTER I. 



Discovery of North America by the English — Importance o{ 
the fur trade — French Canadian fur traders — Coureurs des 
Bois, or Rangers of the Woods. 

The discovery of America by Columbus, and the great 
acquisitions resulting from it to Spain, soon av^^oke a spirit 
of adventure in England : and an expedition was fitted 
out from Bristol under the command of Cabot, a merchant 
there, under the patronage of Henry VII., in 1497. This 
expedition discovered Newfoundland, and sailed along the 
continent from the coast of Labrador to that of Virginia. 
Thus England was the second nation that visited the 
New World ; and the nation, the extent and importance 
of whose possessions have ever been only second to those 
of any other state — Spain, formerly, and the Republic of 
America at present. Her possessions she has always 
2 



14 OREGON TERRITORY. 

made every effort to maintain ; and there never was a 
time when she was more imperatively called on to main- 
tain her territories and her commerce in that continent 
than she is now. 

The discoveries of Cabot opened the way for other 
adventurers during the next century. The French, under 
Cartier, penetrated as far as the island of Montreal, and, 
in 1608, founded a colony in that district. In two years 
after (1610), the Enghsh explored Hudson's Bay. Both 
nations soon found that in the cold and repulsive forests 
and plains of the north there was a source of wealth, if 
not as immediately attractive as the g-old and silver fur- 
nished to the Spaniards in the genial regions of the south, 
yet as enduring and valuable as an article of commerce 
— the peltries of its wild animals. This incentive caused 
the wildest and remotest regions to be explored, and the 
greatest difficulties and dangers to be braved and sur- 
mounted ; and has carried in its course more civilization 
and social improvement than ever followed the track of 
those adventurers after the wealth of Mexico and Peru. 

It was the fur trade which, in fact, gave early suste- 
nance and vitality to the great Canadian provinces. The 
adventurers who had settled on the banks of the St. 
Lawrence, soon found that in the rich peltries of the 
interior they had sources of wealth that might almost 
rival the mines of Mexico and Peru. The Indians, as 
yet unacquainted with the artificial value given to some 
descriptions of furs in civilized life, brought quantities of 
the most precious kinds, and bartered them away for 
European trinkets and cheap commodities. Immense 
profits were thus made by the early traders, and the 
traffic was pursued with avidity. The pursuit of this 
traffic produced a more extensive knowledge of the 
country — drew the Indians from their recesses to the 
haunts of civilized life — and rendered Montreal the centre 
of an extensive trade. Hordes of Indians would come 
down at stated periods, in a squadron of light canoes, 



OREGON TERRITORY. 15 

laden with beaver skins, and other spoils of their year's 
hunting' — unload their canoes — draw them on shore — 
form an encampment outside the town — dispose their 
goods in order, and open a kind of fair with all the grave 
ceremonial so dear to the Indians. An audience would 
be demanded of the Governor-g-eneral : he would respond 
to the application, and hold the conference with becoming 
state, seated in an elbow chair ; whilst the Indians were 
ranged in semicircles before him, seated on the ground, 
and silently smoking their pipes. Speeches would be 
made, — presents exchanged, and the audience would 
break up in general good-humour. 

Then the work of traffic would commence with great 
activity ; and all Montreal would be alive with naked 
Indians, running from shop to shop, bartering their com- 
modities for arms, knives, axes, kettles, blankets, and va- 
rious other articles of use or fancy ; on all of which the 
merchants realized enormous profits, as there was no 
money used in this early traffic ; every transaction being 
conducted by barter in kind. 

Their wants and caprices being supplied, they would 
take leave of the Governor — strike their tents — launch 
their canoes, and ply their way back to the interior. 
The supply procured from these periodical visits of the 
natives to Montreal was, it must be recollected, indepen- 
dent of the purchases made by Canadian adventurers in 
their visits througli tlie interior, 

A new and anomalous class of men gradually grew out 
of this primitive state of the trade. These were called 
Coureurs des bois, or Rangers of the woods, being originally 
men who had accompanied the natives in their hunting 
expeditions, and made themselves acquainted with remote 
tracts, and tribes, and who now became, as it were, ped- 
lars of the wilderness. These men would set out from 
Montreal, well stocked with goods suited to the Indian 
tastes and wants, and with arms and ammunition for self, 
defence, or for slaying wild animals for sustenance ; and 



J 6 OREGON TERRITORY. 

would make their way up the mazy and wandering rivers 
that interlace the vast forests and wastes of the Canadas, 
coasting the most remote lakes ; and by the attraction of 
their imported goods, creating new wants and habitudes 
among the Indians ; and thus spurring them to renewed 
exertions in the chase, to procure more furs and other 
commodities. Sometimes these men would sojourn for 
months among the natives, assimilating to their tastes 
and habits with the facility of Frenchmen — adopting in 
some degree the Indian dress and mode of life, and not 
unfrequently taking to themselves Indian wives. After 
a lapse of many months, sometimes a year or more, they 
would return loaded with merchandise, and then, after 
disposing of their stock, commence a career of reckless 
revelry and extravagance ; which not unfrequently ended 
in their ruin. Those who were able to hold out till the 
next season, were forced upon a new voyage for subsis- 
tence. Many of tliese Coureurs des hois became so ac- 
customed to the Indian mode of living, and the perfect 
freedom of the wilderness, that they lost all relish for 
civilization, and identified themselves with the savages 
among whom they dwelt ; or could be distinguished from 
them only by their superior licentiousness, and by their 
bolder disregard for all law, order, and morality. Their 
conduct and example gradually corrupted the natives, 
and impeded the labours of the Catholic missionaries, 
who were at this time prosecuting their pious work in 
the wilds of Canada, with diligence and fervour. 

To check these abuses, and to protect the fur trade 
from various irregularities produced by these loose ad- 
venturers, an order was issued by the French government, 
prohibiting all persons, on pain of death, from trading in 
the interior of the country without a license ; and the 
use of spirituous liquors, if not abolished, was much re- 
stricted. 

Though this system checked for a time the licentious, 
ness of these " wood rangers," it did not eventually abo- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 17 

lish it; for by degrees, according- as the privileg-e of 
licensing- became extended or relaxed, much of the abuses 
of the old system was revived and continued in another 
form. The merchants holding tlic license frequently em- 
ployed the " Coureurs des bois" to undertake the long- 
voyages at a small per ccntagc, which was sufficient to 
whet their cupidity, and urge them to fraud and cxactidn 
in their dealings with the Indians. At last it was found 
necessary to establish fortified posts for the protection of 
the trade, and the restraint of these «' rang-ers of the 
woods." The most important of these was at the Strait 
of Michilemackinac, which connects lakes Huron and 
Michigan. This was a depot for the merchandise, and a 
rendezvous for the traders. It is unnecessary to pursue 
further a picture of the French-Canadian traders; but I 
may sum up by saying, that the French-Canadian mer- 
chant, in those primitive days of Canada, was at his 
trading-post a kind of commercial patriarch, surrounded 
with his Indian wives and children, and a numerous train 
of dependants living in a rude indulgence. 



CHAPTER II. 

Hudson's Bay Company — Its incorporation, and its privileges. 

Tins company was incorporated in perpetuity by Royal 
Charter, granted a. d. 1670, in the twenty-second year of 
the reign of Charles II. Tlie C'harter was granted after 
much consideration of the national and commercial ad- 
vantages of such a society ; and it was granted to men 
who had obtained no little distinction at that time. From 
the large space which tliis company now deservedly holds 
in the commercial relations of Great Britain — the great 
power it has acquired through its liberal and well regu- 
lated government, and through the enterprise, zeal, and 
2* 



18 OREGON TERRITORY. 

skill of its functionaries, it may not be uninteresting- to 
detail the names of the original corporators, and the ob- 
ject and terms of the Charter. 

It was granted to " Prince Rupert, the Duke of Albe- 
marle, the Earl of Craven, Lords Arlington and Ashley ; 
Sirs John Robinson, Robert Vyner, Peter Colleton, Ed- 
v/ard Hungerford, Paul Nerle, John Griffith, and Philip 
Carteret ; to James Hoycs, John Kirke, Francis Milling- 
ton, William Prettyman, and John Fenn, Esqrs. ; and to 
John Portman, citizen and goldsmith of the city of Lon- 
don ;" giving them and their successors the sole com- 
merce and trade of all those seas, bays, creeks, rivers, 
lakes, &c,, in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that lie 
within the entrance of Hudson's Straits ; together with 
all the Isnds, trade, fisheries, mines, minerals, &c., on 
the confines of those seas, bays, lakes, and rivers, if not 
then possessed by any British subjects, or by the subjects 
of any other Christian prince or state. In a word, all 
those countries wliose waters run into Hudson's Bay 
were included in the Charter. The reason for creating 
this chartered corporation is stated to be, that those indi- 
viduals did at their own cost undertake an expedition to 
Hudson's Bay, for the discovery and prosecution of a 
trade in furs, minerals, and other important commodities ; 
and by such undertaking made such discoveries as may 
be of great advantage to the kingdom. 

The management of the corporation (which was in- 
vested with the usual corporate privileges, of possessing, 
and transmitting to their successors, lands, rents, juris- 
dictions, &c., and were to direct the voyages and ex- 
ploring excursions, and the sale of merchandise), was 
centred in a Governor and Committee of seven. Prince 
Rupert was the first Governor ; and the first Committee 
consisted of Sirs J. Robinson, Robert Vyner, and Peter 
Colleton; with Messrs. Hoyes, Kirke, Millington, and 
Portman. 

The Governor (or deputy-governor for the time being), 



OREGON TERRITORY. 19 

with the Committee, were to be appointed annually by 
election among- the members ; and were removable in 
case of misconduct. The whole of this vast and unde- 
fined region was to be reckoned as one of his Majesty's 
Colonies, and was called Prince Rupert's Land. The 
Governor and the Company were to be lords proprietors 
of the same for ever ; empowered to make laws for the 
g-ood government of the territory and the advancement of 
trade; to impose penalties and punishments, provided, 
however, that they were not unreasonable, and repugnant 
to the Laws of England. 

No subject of the British Crown was to be allowed to 
trade within the Company's territories without their 
written and sealed permission, under penalty of a for- 
feiture of the merchandise embarked : neither was even 
a royal license to trade to be given to any one without 
the Company's consent. As a proof of the wealth and 
importance of the Company, even in its infancy, it may 
be stated, that stock to the amount of one hundred pounds 
(a large sum in those days, if we consider the relative 
value of money then and now) formed the qualification 
for the possession of even a single vote. Individuals 
were allowed a plurality of votes in proportion to their 
possession of funded property in the concern. 

The Company were empowered to appoint district 
governors, and other officers, to judge in all cases, civil 
and criminal, according- to the Laws of England, 

They were also empowered to grant lands — give com- 
mercial privileges — build towns — employ, for the protec- 
tion of their trade and territory, armed force — appoint 
commanders, and erect forts, &c. They were empowered, 
also, to transport to England all British subjects found 
trading in their territory, without their permission ; and 
furthermore all admirals, and other officers of the crown, 
were enjoined to lend their aid in assisting the execution 
of the powers granted to the Company by the Charter. 

Such is an outline of the privileges and powers granted 



20 OREGON TERUITORV. 

to the greatest commercial association that ever appeared 
in England, next to the East India Company: an associa- 
tion that has kept on the even tenor of its useful and 
prosperous course, diffusing wealth at home, and spread- 
ing civilization abroad — ransacking tlie wildest, the 
dreariest, and most ungenial regions of tiie earth to pro- 
vide comfort and luxury and wealth for tlie people of 
England ; and pointing out to the benighted savage the 
means of improvement, comfort, and liappiness. 

Though there were associations formed by French 
Canadians for the beaver trade so early as 1630, yet the 
French had no actual or permanent establishments, nor 
did they claim the right of occupation of any portion of 
the interior. It appears, from the history of Father 
Charlevoix and Hennepin, that, for some years after the 
date of the Charter, the French had no established 
trading posts even as far as Lake Superior ; neither had 
they any established possessions in the vicinity of Hud- 
son's Bay. So that the terms of the grant did not in- 
terfere with any previous right of others. 

Whatever pretensions may have been made by the 
French subsequently to the Charter to any portion of that 
extensive region, they were completely set aside on the 
conquest of Canada ; and then the jurisdiction and pos- 
sessions of the Company were confirmed, in all their 
former plenitude. Even after the establishment of 
American Independence, none of the Hudson's Bay ter- 
ritories, or of the waters running into Hudson's Bay, 
were included in the lines assigned as the boundaries be- 
tween the possessions of Great Britain and those of the 
United States. By the treaty of 1794, which permits 
the most perfect freedom of intercourse and communica- 
tion between the subjects of both nations throughout their 
respective dominions, an exception is made of the country 
within the limits of the Hudson's Bay Company (to be 
ascertained in conformity with their Charter), from which 



OREGON TERRITORY. 21 

the Americans are expressly excluded. In fine, the 
Charter has been sanctioned by various subsequent Acts 
of Parliament, and by treaties of peace. 



CHAPTER III. 

British-Canadian fur trade — Establishment of the Northwest 
Company — Its organization and operations — Rivalry between 
it and the Hudson's Bay Company. 

For a long series of years the French Canadian traders 
found active competitors in the British ; and on the con- 
quest of that country, in 1762, they became nearly ex- 
tinct, the Hudson's Bay Company, and other British 
traders, monopolizing almost the whole fur commerce of 
North America. In a few years the Canadian trade 
began to revive, but under British merchants and under 
a different system. The old French system of licenses 
was abolished, as inconsistent with the principles of free 
trade ; and spirituous liquors were allowed as an article of 
barter, from a knowledge of the ungovernable propensity 
of the Indians to that luxury, which they would make 
any sacrifice of property to obtain. 

Various expeditions were fitted out by separate indi- 
viduals, and sometimes by separate rival partners, who 
pursued their own interests without fear or scruple, and 
seemed to have only two objects in view, — their own ad- 
vantage and the injury of their competitors. The con- 
sequences were, licentiousness, feuds, and excesses of 
every kind in those regions far distant from the reach of 
all legal restraint. The Indians, too, by intoxication, and 
the vicious example and incentives of the Coureurs des 
hois, and other agents, became quarrelsome, knavish, and 
reckless. At last, the nativ^es, who were engaged by dif- 
ferent contending parties to attack each other, threatened 



22 OREGON TERRITORY. 

to make common cause and extirpate the traders. These 
accumulated evils, the result of excessive competition, 
brought the trade to the lowest ebb, and to save it from 
ruin several eminent merchants formed a junction, to 
carry it on in partnership, in 1783. This plan seemed to 
work well ; and similar associations were subsequently 
formed with success. At last there was an amalgamation 
of all in one grand association ; and this was formed in 
1805, the famous Northwest Company, which for many 
j^ears exercised so much power, and threatened the de- 
struction of the Hudson's Bay Company, which had been 
chartered since 1670. 

The management of this Company was vested in 
partners, who had various trading-posts established far 
and wide through the interior. Several of the partners 
resided in Montreal and Quebec to manage the affairs of 
the Company ; they were called agents, and were persons 
of great importance : the other partners took their stations 
at the interior posts, where they remained throughout the 
winter, to superintend the intercourse with the various 
tribes of Indians, and were called wintering-partners. 
The goods destined for this wide and wandering traffic 
with the Indians were stored in the Company's ware- 
houses in Montreal, and thence conveyed by boats up the 
numerous rivers and lakes that intersect this vast region, 
and by portages, or land-carriage ways.* Though this 
Company was at first but a spontaneous association of 
merchants, yet when it became regularly organized, ad- 
mission into it became extremely difficult. A candidate 
liad to undergo a long probation, and to rise slowly by 
his merits. He began at an early age as clerk, and 



* It must be observed, that portage means a land-car- 
riage way, when, in consequence of the impracticability 
of the rivers, from cataracts, or other obstructions, canoes, 
goods, and all must be borne overland, until another 
navigable part be reached. 



OREGON TERRITORY. . 23 

served an apprenticeship of seven years, for Vs'hicli, be- 
sides his clothing-, equipment, and expenses, he received 
£100. His probation uas g-encrally passed in the interior 
trading-.posts, subject to all the uncertainties and hard- 
ships incidental to a life in so wild a region. When he 
had served his apprenticeship, he received a salary com- 
mensurate with his deserts, and was eligible to a partner, 
ship in the Company, though years, perhaps his life, may 
have passed away before he attained that object of his 
toils and ambition. Most of the clerks were young men 
of good families from Scotland, — thrifty, hardy, bold, and 
persevering, and generally vvcll calculated for the difficult 
duties they were required lo discharge. The principal 
partners, or agents, who resided in Montreal and Quebec, 
formed a kind of commercial aristocracy. From early 
associations, and a community of pursuit and interest, 
the partners were closely banded together ; and their 
union, energy, and wealth, gave them great influence 
with the government, which often procured immunity for 
crimes committed by their officials and servants. 

They held a general meeting every summer at Fort 
William, near the grand portage, at the northwestern 
extremity of Lake Superior. Here they discussed and 
arranged the affairs of tlie preceding year, and laid down 
the plans of operation for the next. Here too the clerks, 
and principal servants, assembled to receive their instruc- 
tions ; and a succession of festivities was kept up for 
several days. No system could be better devised to infuse 
activity into every department, and spread the influence 
of the Company ; and some idea may be formed of the 
extensive range which their operations embraced, from 
the circumstance that, in the plenitude of their pow^er, 
they employed no less than two thousand voyageurs, or 
boatmen, at average wages of forty pounds a year each. 
They extended the fur trade into regions previously un- 
explored, and opened new and extensive markets for the 
commercial industry, enterprise, and manufacturing in- 



24 OREGON TERRITORY. 

dustry of the empire, and so took formal and permanent 
possession of districts not occupied by the subjects of any 
other power, among which the most important was 
Columbia. 

The impetus, and almost new character which they 
gave to the prosecution of the fur trade — their encroach- 
ments on the Hudson's Bay Company, whom they not 
merely wished to outrival, but determined to crush — their 
subsequent amalgamation with that Company ; and the 
great and lasting influence which this amalgamation has 
had for commercial good, render it necessary to enter 
somewhat into detail on their proceedings. 

There were three distinct differences between the two 
Companies which deserve to be noticed. The Hudson's 
Bay Company had received a royal grant, confirmed by 
Acts of Parliament, of the vast extent of territory within, 
or bordering on, all the waters that run into Hudson's 
Bay. It is true the limits were not strictly defined, but 
they were intelligible. Having, within their own terri- 
tories, ample range for the pursuit of their trade, they 
had no incentive for encroachment on foreign territory. 
But the Northwest Company, being a voluntary associa- 
tion, had no field of operation to which they could lay 
any legal claim, — they were barely tolerated by the law ; 
and were therefore obliged to try their fortune wherever 
they could, 

2d. The general practice of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany was to remain at their factories on the coast : to 
these the natives resorted from the interior to trade, 
coming down the lakes and rivers in spring to dispose of 
the produce of the winter hunt, and returning in autumn 
with their supplies of English manufacture, which they 
received in exchange. But the Northwest Company, 
having no such established marts, their servants pene- 
trated the very recesses of the wilderness, where they 
established stations, and huckstered with the natives at 
their homes. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 25 

3d. The officers and servants of the Hudson's Bay 
Company were paid regular salaries ; were confined to 
certain localities, and had a prescribed routine of duty to 
perform. But the officials of the Northwest Company 
\vere very differently circumstanced : they were all, from 
the nature of their engagements, and a principle of self- 
interest, speculators, and sons of enterprise. They be- 
came valuable to the Company only in proportion to the 
success of their exertions, and on this depended their 
reward and their hopes. Sometimes, indeed, the officials 
of the Hudson's Bay Company were sent into the interior, 
but this was an exception, not a rule : whereas, the 
general rule of the Northwest Company was to despatch 
their agents into the interior, and any location at head- 
quarters was the exception. 

The Northwest Company having been fully organized 
and prepared for operation, they proceeded at once to 
business with great promptitude and vigour ; and though 
they were, it must be owned, not very scrupulous as to 
means, yet they effijcted themselves, or were the primary 
cause in effecting, great objects. Before their time, the 
Hudson's Bay Company was ignorant of the localities 
and capabilities of even its own territories ; but now, 
since its range of knowledge has been enlarged, and its 
spirit of trade invigorated, by its fusion with the North. 
west Company, the entire of the northern continent has 
been explored, from tiie confines of Canada and California 
to the Pole ; and all its resources discovered. The North- 
west Company also performed great services to the Im- 
perial Government during the late American war, by the 
employment of their servants and treasures, and their 
zeal in rousing the Indians. 

The trade of the old Hudson's Bay Company was ge- 
nerally carried on v.'ith ease, quietness, honesty, and re- 
gularity. They had well-understood engagements with 
the Indians, which were on both sides punctually ful- 
filled ; and on both sides there was confidence and trust. 
3 



26 OREGON TERRITORY. 

The Company often gave goods in advance, and tlie 
Indians never imagined that the visits of the white man 
would be attended with perfidy or pillage. 

As a proof of Indian good faith, it may be sufficient to 
state, tliat in the year 1775, Mr. Frobisher, a Canadian 
enterpriser, having penetrated into the regions previously 
unexplored by his countrymen, met a party of Indians, 
with their canoes full of valuable furs, bound for Fort 
Churchill, one of the factories at Hudson's Bay, and tliat 
he found great difficulty in inducing them to deal with 
him, even for a small portion. The difficulty was, that 
they were going to fulfil their engagements, in paying a 
contracted debt, for which their cargo was but little more 
than an equivalent. A few years after, a Mr. Pond, who 
wintered among them, having collected a greater quan- 
tity of furs than he could carry away at a time, left the 
surplus in his hut ; and on his return next season, found 
them undisturbed. Such was Indian integrity at that 
time ! But one of tlie first effiarts made by the North- 
west Company was to break up that slow mode of com- 
merce, and introduce a quick, haphazard, and exciting 
sort of traffic among the Indians at their homes. This 
plan, from the natural indolence of tlie natives, unwilling 
to undergo the toils and perils of long journeys, and from 
their appetite for spirituous liquors, introduced as an 
article of barter, succeeded. The Company for a time, 
obtained an abundance of furs ; but this abundance led 
to want. 

The best season for hunting the fur-bearing animals is 
winter, when the fur is in its prime. In summer, the 
fur is of inferior quality ; and this, too, is the season 
when they rear their young. For both reasons it was 
desirable that the hunting should be suspended during 
the summer months. Accordingly, the summer season 
was selected for the distant voyages of the hunters to the 
Hudson's Bay Company's factories, for the purposes of 
traffic. Under this system, no furs were brought home 



OREGON TERRITORY. 27 

but those of the best quality ; and as the breed was pre- 
served during summer, the supply was plentiful. But 
when the servants of the Northwest Company went to 
reside in the interior, the natives were tempted to aban- 
don their commerce with the Hudson's Bay Company, 
and to deal with them, in the prospect of superior ad van- 
tage. They accordingly continued the hunt throughout 
the year, and killed the cub and the full-grown beaver 
alike. To aggravate this evil, the Company, dissatisfied 
with even this supply, employed young men from the 
Indian villages in Canada, to go into the interior as 
hunters, paying them at a stipulated rate for the furs 
procured. These, having no families to maintain, and 
having no other employment to pursue, and having be- 
sides no interest in preserving the breed of lucrative ani- 
mals, destroyed them indiscriminately — young and old — 
in season and out of season. The consequence was, that 
districts, which once yielded those valuable animals in 
abundance were nearly stripped of them ; and that the 
home market was drugged — (and while such a system is 
suffered to continue, must ever be drugged) — with inferior 
articles. The miserable natives at last saw the impend- 
ing ruin : — they murmured, but dared not resist. 

It was necessary for the maintenance of this Com- 
pany's monopoly throughout a vast extent of the most 
valuable beaver countries, that they should employ a 
great retinue of servants — greater than the legitimate 
profits of the trade could afford — and to allow them osten- 
sibly high wages. But in reality the wages were low, 
for the Company reimbursed themselves by speculating 
on the extravagance, dissipation, and necessities of their 
dependants; for at every station they kept a sort of tally- 
shop for credit, where the men were obliged to purchase 
all the articles they required at an exorbitantly high 
price. As these were generally a reckless race, and had 
credit to the amount of their wages, and even more, they 
were unable to hoard any provision for their old age, or 



28 OREGON TEKRITCRY. 

for their families, who were left in a state of destitution. 
The consequence was, that they were constantly in debt, 
and in a state of bondage to their employers, there being 
no alternative left them but a periodical return to their 
employment on the tenns prescribed to them, or a jail. 

From one article, a judgment may be formed of the 
rest. They were much addicted to the use of spirituous 
liquors, which, independently of the luxury and gratifica- 
tion, were in some measure necessary ; considering the 
severity of their labours, and the nature of the climate. 
Spirits which cost the Company at ?.Iontreal little more 
than two dollars per gallon, were sold in the interior to 
their servants at eight dollars per quart ! So that when 
a servant became addicted to drinking spirits, the Com- 
pany sustained no loss by adding jC20 to his wages. An- 
other cause of keeping the servants in debt and subjec- 
tion, was the circulation of a depreciated currency, called 
Northwest Currency, in the interior, in which money was 
reckoned only at one half the value it bore in Canada. 
The men who were engaged at Montreal had their wages 
calculated according to the established legal currency, 
but every article which they received in the interior was 
charged according to the Nortlncest Currency. Thf 
Company also continued to bring the Indians within their 
power, by speculating on their necessities. Those who 
inhabited the more sterile parts of the country, to the 
east of Lake Winnipeg, and also to the north, on Church- 
hill river, and in Athabasca, which are rocky and fiill of 
swamps, well adapted for the habitation of the beaver, 
but scanty of buffalo and game, were poor, scattered, and 
consequently timid and feeble. From these the most 
valuable furs were obtained, and these the Company inti- 
midated to deal with themselves exclusively. 

After the complete organization of the Northwest Com- 
pany and the expulsion of all private speculators from the 
fur-trade of Canada, the Hudson's Bay Company became 
their only rival to the north and west of Lake Superior. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 29 

From that time the hostile spirit which had been fostered 
for years among the clerks and servants of the old rival 
Companies that became now fused into one great wliole 
in the Northwest Company, was all concentrated against 
the Hudson's Bay Company; and a systematic plan not 
only wa.s formed to drive their servants out of all the va- 
luable beaver countries ; but hopes were entertained of 
reducing that Company to so low an ebb, as in time to 
induce them to transfer their chartered rights to their 
formidable competitors. As the contests between these 
powerful rivals filled a large space in the commercial 
transactions of British America, and as they eventually 
led to a great result — tlie absorption of the Northwest 
Company in the Hudson's Bay Company, and the un- 
divided sway of the latter association — it is necessary to 
mention a few instances out of a long series of aggres- 
sions, in order to convey an idea of the mode of conduct- 
ing commercial competition, when a spirit of self-interest 
prevailed, in regions remote from the restraints of esta- 
blished law. 

In 1806, Mr. W. Corrigal, a trader in the service of 
the Hudson's Bay Company, was stationed with a few 
men at a place called Bad Lake, witliin the limit of Albany 
Factory (in the Hudson's Bay territory), and near a past 
occupied by a much larger body of men commanded by 
Mr. Haldane, a partner in the Northwest Company. 
Five of the Canadians in his service, watching their op- 
portunity, broke into Mr. Corrigal's house at night, when 
he and his men were in bed. They immediately secured 
all the fire-arms they could find, and, threatening to shoot 
Mr. Corrigal if he made any resistance, rifled the store- 
house, and took away four hundred and eighty beaver 
skins. Corrigal soon after went to Haldane, and de- 
manded the restoration of the property. Haldane an- 
swered that " he came for furs, and furs he was deter- 
mined to have." These furs were afterwards carried to 
the grand portage, and formed a part of the Company's 
3* 



30 OREGON TERRITORY. 

returns for that year. A similar attack was made in 
the same year on another station, at the Red Lake, also 
under the charge of Mr. Corrigal, and fifty beaver skins, 
together with a large quantity of cloth, brandy, tobacco, 
ammunition, &c., carried off. 

In the autumn of this year, J. Crear, a trader in the 
service of the Hudson's Bay Company, (also on the es- 
tablislmient of Albany Factory,) occupied a post with 
five uicn at Big Fall, near Lake Winnipeg. One even- 
ing a party of Canadians, under the conunand of Mr. 
Alexander McDonnell, then a clerk of the Northwest 
Company, encamped at a short distance. On the follow- 
ing morning M'Donnell and his party came to dear's 
house, in tlie absence of four of his men, and, charging 
him with having traded furs from an Indian who was 
indebted to the Nortliwest Company, insisted ori their 
being given up to him. Crear refused ; and on this, 
M'Donnell broke open the warehouse, and struck Crear 
in the face with the butt-end of his gun, inflicting on 
him a severe wound, and stabbed his remaining servant 
in the arm with a dagger. They then carried off the 
furs, a quantity of provisions, and a canoe. On the fol- 
lowing February, one of McDonnell's assistants, at the 
hcAd of a party, attacked Crear's house, beat him and 
his men, and carried off a great number of valuable furs. 
They then compelled Crear, with threats of instant death, 
to sign a paper acknowledging that he voluntarily gave 
up the furs, as not being properly his. 

On another occasion, William Linkwater, in the ser- 
vice of the Hudson's Bay Company, was returning to his 
station at Reindeer Lake, bringing on a sledge a quan- 
tity of valuable furs, which lie had traded from the In- 
dians. He was met, near his own house, by Mr. Duncan 
Campbell, one of the partners of the Northwest Company, 
at the head of a body of men, and was called on to give 
them up. On his refusal, Campbell cut the traces of the 
sledge, beat him, and bore off the furs, for which no 
compensation v/as ever after made. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 31 

The Northwest Company having been established 
some years at Isle ii la Crosse, near the borders of the 
Athabasca country (but within the territories claimed by 
the Hudson's Bay Company under their charter), had ob- 
tained what they called the attachment of the Indians : 
i. e., they reduced them to a state of awe and submission. 
To this place Mr, Peter Fidler was sent, in 1809, with a 
part}'^ of eighteen men, from Churchill Factory, to esta- 
Wish a trading- post. The Company's officers had, on 
many former occasions, attempted to establish a trade in 
this place, which is the centre of a country abounding in 
beaver ; but they were always obliged to relinquish the 
attempt. In order the more effectually to overawe the 
Indians from dealing with Mr. Fidler, and to deter him 
from any attempt to protect his customers, the Northwest 
Company reinforced their post with an extra number of 
Canadians. A watch-house was built at his door ; so 
that no Indian could enter unobserved. Here a party of 
professed batailleurs, or bullies, were stationed, and em- 
ployed not only to watch and scare away the Indians, 
but to give every possible annoyance day and night to 
the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. Their fire- 
wood was stolen — they were perpetually obstructed in 
hunting for provisions — the produce of their garden was 
destroyed — their fishing lines stolen in the night time ; 
and their nets, on which they chiefly relied for subsis- 
tence, cut to pieces. At length, growing bolder with 
success, they issued a formal mandate, that not one of 
the Hudson's Bay Company's sei'vants should stir out of 
the house. 

The consequence was that Fidler and his party were 
driven away, and the Canadians burnt the hut to the 
ground. It was not only the prosecution of trade, on the 
part of the Hudson's Bay Company, that their rivals 
thwarted, but even attempts to explore the country. This 
Mr. Fidler had been despatched in 1807 to explore a part 
of the country through which a more advantageous com- 



32 OREGON TERRITORY. 

munication may be opened into Athabasca. He was em- 
ployed merely as a surveyor ; yet he was tracked on his 
route, and interrupted in every way ; and the Indian who 
acted as his guide was attacked, for his breach of duty 
to the Northwest Company, and most cruelly maltreated. 
To these, and many similar outrages, the difficulty of 
obtaining legal redress gave, to a certain extent, impu- 
nity. It is true there was an act passed by the Imperial 
Parliament, in 1803, called the "Canadian Jurisdiction 
Act," to repress and punish such crimes ; and it was 
passed in consequence of the complaints made of the 
many assaults of the servants of the Old and New North- 
west Companies on each other, when these companies 
were violent competitors, — before their union. By this 
Act, the courts of law in Canada were allowed to take 
cognizance of any offences committed within the " Indian 
territories," 

But though Canadians contending against Canadians 
may not have been brought under the operation of this 
Act, yet when the struggle and the contention came to be 
between the Canadians united on the one side, (after the 
junction of the Companies,) and the servants of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company on the other, it would have been next 
to an impossibility for a Hudson's Bay Company complai- 
nant — a stranger — to obtain redress at Montreal for an 
outrage committed by a Canadian, perhaps at a distance 
of three or four thousand miles. The Canadians were 
in possession of all the water and land passages to Mon- 
treal — their friends and employers were then willing and 
able to assist them, and they could have no lack of wit- 
nesses. But how could a servant of the Hudson's Bay 
Company, who had no command of the line of route, and 
who had no intercourse with Canada, and no agent there, 
convey his witnesses safely such a distance, and by such 
a route ; and how could he liope for equal facility of 
maintaining his cause in Montreal ? 

There was only one case brought to trial for twelve 



OREGON TERRITORY. 33 

years. This case, if truly reported, furnishes an example 
of gross oppression. In 1809, Mr. W. Corrigal, of the 
Hudson's Bay Company, occupied a post near Eagle 
Lake, to the north of Lake Superior. A party of the 
Northwest Company established, on the loth of Sep- 
tember, an encampment about forty yards from his 
house, under the command of Mr. jEneas JM'Donnell, a 
clerk of the latter Company. On the evening of their 
encampment, an Indian arrived in his canoe, bringing a 
cargo of furs, in part payment of a debt which he owed 
Corrigal ; and remained at his house all night. Next 
morning, as he was returning home with some goods — 
such as clothing, ammunition for his winter's hunt, «Scc., 
M'Donnell, with two of his servants, went down to the 
wharf, and seized on the loaded canoe, on the alleged 
ground that he was indebted to the Northwest Company. 
Corrigal, witnessing the occurrence, sent down two of 
his men to secure the canoe. M'Donnell drew his sword 
and severely wounded one of the men — Tate. This scene 
soon brought up reinforcements from both sides ; and a 
general fight ensued, during which M'Donnell did great 
execution with his sword. Corrigal's party were obliged 
to retreat in a sad plight. In the pursuit, M'Donnell 
was about to cut down a person named Mowatt, whom 
he had previously wounded, when Mowatt turned round 
and shot him on the spot. This put a stop, then, to hos- 
tilities. The Northwest Company's servants despatched 
couriers to their friends in the neighbouring posts, and 
on the next day assembled in large bodies before Corri- 
gal's house, which he had in the mean time barricaded, 
demanding, with threats of instant destruction to the 
whole party in case of refusal, that the person who shot 
M'Donnell should be given up. Mowatt then stepped 
forward, and said that he was the man, and would do it 
again in his own defence. He then surrendered himself, 
and it was agreed that two of his party, Tate and Leask, 
should be taken with him, as his witnesses, straight to 



34 OREGON- TERRITORY. 

Montreal ; but if he were detained till spring-, then one 
of them was to be sent back to Eagle Lake, and Mr. 
Corrig-al himself was to go to Montreal as his witness. 
They accordingly were taken to the Northwest Com- 
pany's encampment, where Mowatt w'as placed in irons. 

They were thence removed to a station called Lac La 
Pluie, where they were detained till the 26th of February, 
Mowatt being kept all the time in irons, and his witnesses 
subjected to great suffering. On the 26th of February, 
Leask was sent back, and Mr. Corrigal set out. He, 
Tate, and the prisoner arrived at Fort William on the 
9th of June. On the 21st, Mr. A. Shaw, a partner, and a 
magistrate for the Indian territory, under the Act of 
1803, arrived from Montreal, and ordered Mowatt to be 
summoned before him. Mowatt refused to answer any 
questions, saying he wished to be taken at once to Mon- 
treal, and placed on his trial. He was ordered back to 
the close and solitary dungeon in which he had been 
confined, and placed under heavy irons. Here he was 
detained till the 17th of August, though canoes were 
constantly plying between that place and Montreal. 
When he was taken out to be removed to Montreal, he 
fell down twice from weakness, and cut his face with his 
handcuffs. During his confinement it was feared by the 
jailor that the solitude and privation were driving him to 
delirium, and his razors were removed. 

Corrigal and Tate arrived soon afler, and to their 
surprise, were arrested as accessories. Thus was the 
prisoner deprived of his only means of defence ; and two 
men, innocent of the act, w^ho went down according to 
previous agreement, as witnesses — free and uncharged, a 
distance of fifleen himdred miles in his behalf, were 
entrapped into a prison. The three were penniless, un- 
known, and unfriended in Montreal. It was not till the 
end of November that the directors of the Hudson's Bay 
Company, who at that time had no agent or correspon- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 35 

dent in Montreal, or any place in Canada, heard of the 
prosecution thus carried on against their servants ; and 
they then took steps for their defence by engaging- 
counsel. The prisoners remained in prison about six 
months; and during most of that time endured great 
hardship. They were indicted for murder. The grand 
jury returned a true hill against Mowatt, but ignored the 
bills against the others. At Mowatt's trial the influence 
of the Northwest Company was evident. The jury was 
generally believed to have been packed ; and more than 
one indication of manifest partiality was exhibited from 
the bench. TJiough it was clearly proved that M'Don- 
nell began the attack without provocation ; and that 
Mowatt fired in self-defence, he was found guilty of 
manslaughter, and sentenced to be imprisoned for six 
months (having been already in close confinement for 
eighteen months), and branded in the hand with a red- 
hot iron. 

Such are the leading facts of this memorable case, 
about which much has been written, and which awakened 
the attention of the British public to one of the modes of 
carrying on the Canadian fur trade. From the bitter 
spirit in which these contests were carried on, and the 
criminations and recriminations so liberally and boldly 
dealt out on both sides, it is not easy now to arrive at a 
clear conclusion as to the relative amount of delinquency 
of either party. The weight of evidence, however, seems 
to incline in favour of the Hudson's Bay Company. They 
had no occasion, at least were not under the same neces- 
sity of resorting to violent means for securing a profitable 
trade as their rivals. They had a charter which gave 
them great advantages ; they had not an equal force to 
present against their rivals ; and besides, the scene of 
operations lay at a great distance from their head-quar- 
ters. But, however, good came from evil : it led to a 
junction, and the undisturbed and salutary prosecution of 
the whole trade. 



30 OREGON TERRITORY. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Establishment of ll\e Hudson's Bay Company's settlement, 
under Lord Selkirk, at Red River — destruction of it by the 
A'orihvvest Comj)any. 

It may not be uninteresting to give an account of a 
very judicious and laudable attempt made by the Hud- 
son's Bay Company, to establish an agricultural colony, 
as the nucleus, from which, in progress of time, civilized 
society would spread in the territories of the Hudson's 
Bay Company — an attempt which, unhappily, was marred 
by the influences of avarice and jealousy. The Company 
liad long been of opinion that, as the country over which 
tliey held unlimited jurisdiction contained so many na- 
tural resources, and was capable of yielding other riches 
besides furs, it would be desirable, for many reasons, to 
establish colonies in the interior ; for, independently of 
the advantages accruing to the settlers themselves for 
acquiring the means of independent subsistence, perhaps 
denied to them in their native country, the example of 
well-regulated communities, showing a respect for law, 
order, integrity, and religion, would operate beneficially 
in the commercial intercourse between the rude natives 
and the licentious traders. But to found such colonies in 
a country so far removed from any civilized establish- 
ments was a matter surrounded with difficulties. It 
required persons of property, influence, and judgment to 
undertake the management of the plan. 

Lord Selkirk, who possessed considerable spirit of en- 
terprise, and acquired some note as a writer on colonial 
emigration, entere^l into a negotiation with the Company. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 37 

They accordingly, on condition of speedy settlement, 
made to him a grant of land in a salubrious and fertile 
district, where the land was abundantly supplied with 
buffalo and other wild cattle, and the lakes and rivers 
with excellent fish. He commenced then, in 1812, a set- 
tlement at Red River, near its junction with the Assini- 
boin River, to the south of Lake Winnipeg. Miles 
M'Donnell, Esq., formerly a captain in the Queen's Ran- 
gers, was selected to conduct the undertaking, and was, 
at the same time, appointed governor of the district, un- 
der the authority conferred by the Company's charter. 
Though the settlement was formed in a district which 
had been exhausted of valuable furs by the extirpation of 
the beaver; and though the settlers were prevented, by 
the very tenure of their lands, from interfering in the fur 
trade, and were thus exempted from the suspicion of ri- 
valry ; yet, extraordinary as it may appear, the North- 
west Company, from the very moment that the Hudson's 
Bay Company engaged in the plan of forming an agri- 
cultural settlement upon an extended scale within their 
territories, avowed their determined hostility to the set- 
tlement; or to any execution, however partial, of such a 
project. As they wished to hold exclusive possession of 
the country, they were jealous of any establishment that 
could be formed within the range of their monopoly, 
where habits of sobriety, and principles of moral inte- 
grity would operate as a check on tlie conduct of their 
servants ; and they resolved to destroy it. 

The settlement presented every appearance of growing 
prosperity. Emigrants were arriving ; and the Indians 
evinced a friendly disposition. But in the autumn of 
1814, after a general meeting of the partners of the North- 
west Company, held at Fort William, near Lake Superior, 
an expedition was fitted out against it. The intentions 
of the Northwest Company can be judged of by a letter 
from Mr. Alexander M'Donnell, one of the partners, 
dated August 5, and addressed to a brother-in-law of the 
4 



38 OREGON TERRITORY. 

Hon. William M'Gillwra}^ another of the partners, re- 
siding in I\Iontreal. 

" You see myself, and our mutual friend Mr. Cameron, 
so far on our way to commence open hostilities against 
the enemy. Much is expected from us. One thing cer- 
tain is, that Ave will do our best to defend what we con- 
sider our rights in the interior. Nothing but the com- 
plete doiovfall of the colony will satisfy some, by fair or 
foul means — a most desirable object if it can be elFected. 
So here is at them with all my heart and energy." 

Their first plan of proceeding was to seduce or frighten 
away as many of the colonists and their servants as they 
could ; and raise the Indians to destroy the settlement. 
Previously to their setting out, ^I'Donnell and Cameron 
provided themselves with the uniforms of British military 
officers, and administered an oath in Fort William to 
their followers to obey all the orders of their commander 
for the defence of the interests of the Company in the 
Northwest. On their arriving at Fort Gibraltar, a fort 
belonging to the Northwest Company, within about a 
mile of the Red River settlement, Cameron assumed the 
style and title of commander, alleging that government 
had conferred that appointment upon him, and issued 
proclamations in that character. Their first step was to 
excite discontent among the settlers : and several of them 
were induced, by prospects of reward or by intimidation, 
to desert, and pillage the settlement ; which they did ; 
for among other articles, they took oflT nine pieces of ar- 
tillery, with a quantity of muskets and ammunition, sent 
out by the board of ordnance for its defence ; Cameron 
and his party being posted under arms close by ready to 
support the plunderers if resisted. The settlement being 
thus deprived of its principal means of defence, and ha- 
rassed for months by a series of other aggressions and 
losses, it was at last determined, in June 1815, that Ca- 
meron should attack it with his whole force. This attack, 
followed up by others, having failed, though attended 



OREGON TERRITORY. 39 

with much damage to the colony, the assailants brought 
the artillery to batter down the buildings. Then at last 
the governor was obliged to surrender, and he was sent 
a prisoner to Montreal, under a warrant from a partner 
of the Northwest Company on a charge of having prohi- 
bited the exportation of provisions ; and having detained 
some bags of pemican (a preparation of dried buffalo 
meat) belonging to the Company. The remainder of 
them were expelled ; their cattle slaughtered ; and their 
buildings levelled down. 

Messrs. M'Donnell and Cameron were treated with 
great distinction by the Company, and in approbation of 
their services were retained in their former posts. 

But in autumn, the colonists who had been driven out 
returned with an accession to their numbers, partly from 
Scotland, and partly from Canada, under the conduct of 
Mr. Colin Robertson, a gentleman in the service of the 
Hudson's Bay Company, and resumed the occupation of 
their fields at Red River. Soon after, Robert Semple, 
Esq., who had been appointed governor over the whole of 
the Hudson's Bay territories, arrived at Red River. The 
Northwest Company now felt that a more vigorous effort 
than the former could alone enable them to destroy the 
renovated settlement. The previous stratagems, of sow- 
ing disaffection, and influencing the colonists, were now 
impracticable. They were committed in open warfare 
with the Hudson's Bay Company ; their sole hopes then 
lay in superior physical power. An unusually large force 
was collected, in the spring of 1816, at Northwest Fort, 
on the river Qui Appelle, within the Hudson's Bay terri- 
tories, under the command of Alexander M'Donnell. To 
form this force, requisitions had been made upon various 
forts of the Northwest Company, to a very great dis- 
tance ; all of whom contributed their quotas. The great- 
est energy was exhibited by the different partners of the 
Company. Mr. Duncan Campbell, a partner who com- 
manded at Fort Cumberland, in despatching his rein- 



40 OREGON TERRITORY. 

forccments, told them that it was indispensable that they 
sliould have the Governor, Mr. Senaplc, and Mr. Robert- 
son, or their heads. 

The Hudson's Bay Company had a post likewise on 
the river Qui Appclle, in the vicinity of the post where 
M'Donnell commanded. This river is one of the tribu- 
taries to the Red River. The post established there by 
the Hudson's Bay Company was one of those denominated 
provision posts; and from it large quantities of provisions 
were sent down in boats to the Red River for the use of 
the colony, and the Company. Governor Semple hearing 
at Red River that the Northwest Company were collect, 
ing a large force at Qui Appelle, and fearing they would 
prevent the arrival at the settlement of the provisions ex- 
pected from that quarter, despatched a Mr. Pambrun with 
an escort, to insure their safe arrival. This party, on 
their return with the provisions, as well as a quantity of 
furs and other property, were attacked by a superior force, 
at an intricate part of the river, where resistance was 
hopeless — were made prisoners, and carried back, with 
the cargo, to M'Donnell's position at Qui Appelle 

M'Donnell, when all the expected levies had arrived, set 
out for the attack of the colony, and on his way sacked 
the Hudson's Bay Company's boats at Brandon House. 
Having arrived at a place called Portages des Prairies, 
about sixty miles from the colony, he halted there with 
the main bod}' of his forces, and sent forward a detach- 
ment of about seventy horsemen, under the command of 
Cuthbert Grant. The Governor, Mr. Semple, having 
learned that an armed body of men was at hand, and 
capturing some of the settlers, proceeded with about, 
thirty attendants to meet them, hoping by his presence 
and authority to prevent hostilities, especially as he was 
ignorant of their number and real intentions. He was 
soon surrounded and summoned to surrender : on his 
refusal he and his party were instantly slain, with the 
exception of one who was kept a prisoner, and four who 



OREGON TERRITORY. 41 

escaped, in the tumult, across the river. Grant employed 
the prisoner to induce the inhabitants of the settlement, 
and of the Hudson's Bay Company's fort attached to it, 
to make an entire and unconditional surrender, as the 
only means of escaping- from destruction. There was no 
alternative : they were reduced to utter helplessness and 
despair : and accordingly they surrendered every thing, 
beg-ging only for their lives. The certificate of protec- 
tion granted to each individual ran thus : — 

" This is to certify that behaved honourably 

to the Northwest Company. 

CuTHBERT Grant, 

Clerk to the Northwest Company," 

This document shows that either real or supposed in- 
terference with the interests of the Company constituted, 
originally, the chief crime of the settlers. These sur- 
vivors were immediately embarked in canoes, to the 
number of two hundred, including women and children, 
with a very insufficient stock of provisions for their 
journey, to Hudson's Bay. Thus was the downfall of the 
colony, according to M'Donnell's intimation in his letter, 
effected. The majority of the sufferers were Scotch, and 
the conductors of the attack were their own countrymen. 
It shows what the love of gain can do. 



4* 



42 OREGON TERRITORY. 



CHAPTER V. 

Trappers, or beaver hunters — Voyageurs, or boatmen. 

In the old times of the Canadian fur trade when the 
trade in furs was chiefly pursued about the lakes and 
rivers, the expeditions were, in a great degree, carried on 
in batteaux and canoes. But a totally different class 
now sprung up — the " mountaineers" — tlie traders and 
trappers that scale the vast mountain chains, and pursue 
their hazardous vocation amidst their wild recesses — 
moving from place to place on horseback — exposed not 
alone to the perils of the wilderness, but to the perils of 
attack from fierce Indians, to whom it has become as 
favourite an exploit to harass and way-lay a band of 
trappers with their pack-horses, as it is to the Arabs of 
the desert to plunder a caravan. The equestrian exer- 
cises in which they are constantly engaged — the nature 
of the country they traverse — vast plains and mountains 
pure and exhilarating in their atmospheric qualities — 
seem to make them, physically and mentally, a more 
lively, vigorous, daring and enduring race than the fur 
traders and trappers of former days, who generally had 
huts or tents to shelter them from the inclemency of the 
seasons — were seldom exposed to the hostility of the 
natives, and generally were within reach of supplies 
from the settlements. There is, perhaps, no class of men 
on the earth who lead a life of more continued exertion, 
danger, and excitement, and who are more enamoured of 
their occupations, than the free trappers of the wild re- 
gions of the west. No toil, no danger, no privation, can 



OREGON TERRITORy. 43 

turn the trapper aside from his pursuit. If his meal is 
not ready in time, he takes his rifle — hies to the forest — 
shoots his game — lights his fire ; and cooks his repast. 
With his horse and his rifle he is independent of the 
world, and spurns its restraints. In vain may the most 
vigilant and cruel savages beset his path — in vain may 
rocks, and precipices, and vidntry torrents oppose his 
progress ; let but a single track of a beaver meet his eye, 
and he forgets all danger, and defies all difficulties. At 
times he may be seen, with his traps on his shoulder, 
buffeting his way across rapid streams amidst floating 
blocks of ice : at other times may he be seen, with his 
traps slung on his back, clambering the most rugged 
mountains — scaling or descending the most frightful pre- 
cipices — searching by routes inaccessible to horse, and 
never before trodden by white man, for springs and lakes 
unknown to his comrades, where he may meet with his 
favourite game. 

This class of hunters are generally Canadians by birth, 
and of French descent ; who, after being bound to serve 
the traders for a certain number of years and receive 
wages, or hunt on shares, then continued to hunt and 
trap on their own account, trading with the Company 
like the Indians; hence they are called /ree men. Having 
passed their youth in the wilderness, in constant inter- 
course with the Indians, and removed from civilized 
society, they lapse with natural facility into the habits of 
savage life. They generally intermarry with the natives, 
and, like them, have often a plurality of wives. Wardens 
of tlie wilderness, according to the vicissitudes of the 
seasons, the migrations of animals, and the plenty or 
scarcity of game, they lead a precarious and unsettled 
existence, exposed to sun and storm, and all kinds of 
hardships, until they resemble the Indians in complexion, 
as well as in tastes and habits. From time to time they 
bring their peltries to the trading-houses of the Company, 
and barter them for such articles as they may require. 



44 OREGON TERRITORY. 

When Montreal was the great emporium of the fur trade, 
some of them would occasionally return, after an absence 
of many years, to visit their old associates. There they 
would squander the long- and hard earned fruits of their 
labours ; and after the fit of revelry was over go back to 
their former toils, and the freedom of the forest. Some 
few of them, however, retained a little of the thrift and 
forethought of the civilized man, and became wealthy 
among their improvident neighbours; their wealth con- 
sisting chiefly of large bands of horses, scattered over the 
prairies in the vicinity of their abodes. 

There was another class, the native Indians of Canada, 
who had partially conformed to the habits of civilization, 
and received the doctrines of Christianity, under the in- 
fluence of the French colonists and the Romon Catholic 
priests, who certainly diff'uscd move of the knowledge and 
principles of the Christian religion among the North 
American Indians than the Protestant missionaries have. 
These half-civilized Indians retained some of the good 
and of the evil qualities of their original stock. Though 
they generally professed the Roman Catholic religion, it 
was mixed up with some of their ancient superstitions, 
especially their belief in omens and charms. These men 
were often employed for a stated time by the Company as 
trappers and canoe-men, though on lower terms than were 
allowed to the white men, but generally in the end they 
became free trappers. 

Voyageurs. — As this class of functionaries was, and is 
indispensable in the prosecution of the fur-trade ; and as 
they form one of those distinct and strong-marked orders 
of people springing up in that vast continent out of geo- 
graphical circumstances, or the varied pursuits, habitudes, 
and origins of the population, the following sketch of a 
few of their leading characteristics may be interesting 
and instructive. The voyageurs form a kind of fraternity 
in the Canadas, like the arrieros, or carriers, in Spain, 
and, like them, are employed in long internal expeditions 



OREGOX TERRITORY. 45 

of travel and traffic ; but with this difference, that the 
arrieros travel by land, with mules and horses, the voija. 
geurs by water, with batteaux, or boats, and canoes. 'I'he 
voyageurs may be said to have sprung up out of the fur- 
trade, having been originally employed by the early 
French merchants in their trading expeditions through 
the labyrinth of rivers and lakes of the boundless interior. 
They were coeval with the coureurs des hois, or rangers 
of the woods, already noticed, and like them, in the inter- 
vals of their long and laborious expeditions were prone to 
pass their time in idleness and revelry about the trading- 
posts, or settlements — squandering their hard earnings 
in heedless conviviality ; and rivalling their neighbours 
the Indians in indolent indulgence and an improvident 
disregard to to-morrow. Their dress is generally half 
civilized, half savage. They wear a capot, or outside 
coat, made of a blanket — a striped cotton shirt — cloth 
trowsers, or leathern leggins — moccasins, or deerskin 
shoes, without a sole, and ornamented on the upper ; and 
a belt of variegated worsted, from which are suspended a 
knife, tobacco-pouch, and other implements. Their lan- 
guage is of the same piebald character, being a French 
patois, embroidered with Indian and English words and 
phrases. Their lives are passed in wild and extensive 
rovings in the service of individuals, but more especially 
of the fur-traders. They are generally of French descent, 
and inherit much of the gaiety and light-heartedness of 
their ancestors ; being full of anecdote and song, and ever 
ready for the dance. They inherit, too, a fund of civility 
and complaisance ; and instead of that hardness and 
grossness which men in laborious life are apt to indulge 
towards each other, they are naturally obliging and ac- 
commodating — interchanging kind offices, — yielding each 
other assistance and comfort in every emergency ; and 
using the familiar and affijctionate appellations of " cou- 
sin," and " brother," when there is, in fact, no relation- 
ship. Their natural good-will is probably heightened by 



46 OREGON TERRITORY. 

a community of adventure and hardship in their preca- 
rious and wandering life. No men are more submissive 
to their leaders and employers — more capable of enduring- 
hardships, or more good-humoured under privations. 
Never are they so happy as when on long and rough ex- 
peditions, toiling up rivers, or coasting lakes, on the 
borders of v/hich they encamp at night, gossip round 
their fires, and bivouac in the open air. They are dex- 
terous boatmen, vigorous and adroit with the oar and 
paddle, and will row from morning till night v/ithout a 
murmur. The steersman often sings an old traditionary 
French song, with some regular cliorus, in wliich they 
all join, keeping time with their oars ; and if at any time 
they flag in spirits or relax in exertion, it is but neces- 
sary to strike up a song of the kind to put them all in 
fresh spirits and activity. The Canadian waters are 
vocal with these songs, that have been echoed from 
mouth to mouth, and transmitted from father to son, from 
the earliest days of the colony ; and it has a pleasing 
eifect to see, in a still, golden summer evening, a batteau 
gliding across the bosom of the lake, dipping its oars to 
the cadence of these quaint old ditties, or sweeping along 
in full chorus, on a bright sunny morning, down the 
transparent current of one of the Canadian rivers. 

When Canada passed under British domination, and 
the old French trading-houses were broken up, the voya- 
geurs, like the coureurs des bois, were for a long time 
disheartened and disconsolate ; and with difficulty could 
reconcile themselves to the service of the new-comers, so 
different in manners, habits, and language, from their 
former employers. By degrees, however, they became 
accustomed to the change ; and at length came to con- 
sider the British fur-traders, and especially the Northwest 
Company, as the legitimate lords of creation. 

" An instance," says W. Irving, " of the buoyant tem- 
perament and professional pride of these people was fur- 
nished in the gay and braggart style in which a party of 



OREGON TERRITORY. 47 

them arrived at New York to join the enterprise.* They 
were determined to regale and astonish the people of the 
' States' with the sight of a Canadian boat and a Cana- 
dian crew. They accordingly fitted up a large, but light, 
bark canoe — such as is used in the fur-trade — transplanted 
it in a wagon from the banks of the St. Lawrence to the 
shores of Lake Champlain — traversed the lake in it from 
end to end — hoisted it again in a wagon — wheeled it off 
to Lansingburg, and then launched it upon the Avaters of 
the Hudson. Down this river they plied their course 
merrily on a fine summer's day, making its banks re- 
sound, for the first time, with their old French boat-songs 
— passing by the villages with whoop and halloo, so as to 
make the honest Dutch farmers mistake them for a crew 
of savages. In this way they swept in full song, and 
with regular flourish of the paddle, round New York, in 
a still summer evening, to the delight and admiration of 
its inhabitants, who had never witnessed on their waters 
a nautical apparition of the kind. 

" But we are talking of things that are fast fading 
away. Mechanical invention is driving every thing poeti- 
cal before it. The steamboats, which are fast dispelling^ 
the solitude, wildness, and romance of our lakes and 
rivers, are proving as fatal to the race of Canadian voya- 
geurs, as they have been to the boatmen on the Missis- 
sippi. They are no longer the lords of our internal seas, 
and the great navigators of the wilderness. Their range 
is fast contracting to those remote waters, and shallow 
and obstructed rivers unvisited by the steamboat. In the 
course of years they will gradually disappear — their songs 
will die away like the echoes they once awakened ; and 
the Canadian voyage urs will become a forgotten race, or 
remembered, like their associates the Indians, among the 
poetical images of past times, and as a theme for local 
and romantic associations." 

* The trading expedition fitted out by Mr. Foster for 
the Columbia. 



48 OREGON TERRITORY. 

Without speculating as to the duration of their future 
existence, (and unless steam should make rapid strides, 
and produce wonderful changes, — " make the rough ways 
smooth, and the crooked straight," — deepen shallows — 
level waterfalls ; and smoothen rapids, in the streams, 
lakes, and rivers of British America, their extirpation in 
the northwest is not likely soon to occur), I may observe, 
that however much the romance and poetry of their pur- 
suit and enterprise may decay, their physical comforts 
are likely to be greatly improved. The system under 
which they so successfully played the part of joyous ad- 
venturers, indefatigable fresh-water rovers, has been 
changed, and for the better. The whole of the vast con- 
tinent stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and 
from Lake Superior and the Columbia to the Pole, save 
the strip of sea-coast occupied by the Russians on the 
North Pacific, is under the jurisdiction of the Hudson's 
Bay Company. Throughout this immense region they 
have stations established at convenient distances ; and 
within the limits of tlie territories attached to each sta- 
tion, the duties of the several bands of voyageurs are 
generally confined. They know their range of adven- 
ture, where they are to halt, and what is to be their final 
destination. They are well paid and well fed, and need 
have no care for to-morrow. It is true they have less 
ardent spirits, but they have more substantial food. They 
have less incentive for speculation, but they have more 
certainty of pay. They have less freedom, but more 
security of person. 

The following sketch of the fare of the voyageurs, and 
the other hard-working servants of the Company, at 
present, though applied to a peculiar undertaking, will, 
however, in the main, hold good about their treatment 
generally. I must premise that animal food is their only 
subsistence often in those remote regions ; as they have 
neither bread nor vegetables : — 

" On Cliristmas and New Year's days," says Simpson, 



OREGON TEPvRITORY. 49 

» we entertained our assembled people with a dance, fol- 
lowed by a supper consisting of the best fare we could 
command. By this time we had, through onr indefati- 
gable exertions, accumulated two or three weeks' pro- 
visions in advance, and no scarcity was experienced 
during the remainder of the season. The daily rations 
served out to each man was increased from eight to ten, 
and to some individuals twelve, pounds of venison, or, 
when they could be got, four or five white-fish, weighing 
from fifteen to twenty pounds. This quantity of solid 
food, immoderate as it may appear, does not exceed the 
average standard of the country ; and ought certainly to 
satisfy the inordinate appetite of a French Canadian ; yet 
there was one of them who complained he had not enough, 
and did not scruple to help himself to an additional 
supply whenever the opportunity offered — it would have 
taken twenty pounds of animal food daily to satisfy him." 

The Company's servants are not less well clothed and 
paid than they are fed. They are treated by their imme- 
diate masters with a familiar kindness, surpassing what 
I have ever seen elsewhere, even in the United States ; 
and their whole condition affords the strongest possible 
contrast to the wretched situation of the Russian " pro- 
muschlenicks," as described by Langsdaff. The nature 
of the climate and the long journeys demand, it is true, 
hard labour hy times ; but it is labour voluntarily en- 
dured, and less physically severe than the compulsory 
trackings on the rivers of Russia and China, while a 
great part of the year is spent in comparative idleness ; 
and if the voyageur finds the fatigue and hardships too 
great, it rests with himself to be released from them at 
the close of his three years' contract. 

The canoes generally used by the fur traders of the 
north for navigating the intricate and often obstructed 
rivers, are between thirty and forty feet long, and several 
feet in width, constructed of birch bark, sewed with 
fibres of the roots of the spruce tree, and daubed with 
5 



50 OREGON TERRITORY. 

resin of the pine, in place of tar. These, though capable 
of sustaining a freight of four tons each, can readily be 
carried on men's shoulders. Canoes of this kind are gene- 
rally managed by eight or ten men, two of whom are 
picked veterans, who received double wages, and are sta- 
tioned one at the bow, the other at tlie stern, to keep a 
look-out and to steer : they are termed the foreman and 
the steersman. The rest, who ply the paddles, are called 
middle men. When there is a favourable breeze, the canoe 
is occasionally navigated with a sail. From the lightness 
of such materials as the canoes were made of — bark — the 
utmost vigilance, patience, and exertion, were necessary 
for the intricate and difficult navigation in Vi'hicli they 
were often employed. Sometimes the boat wovdd be 
exposed to frequent danger from floating trees, and great 
masses of drift-wood ; or be impaled on sunken trees, 
presenting a jagged or pointed end above the surface of 
the water. Sometimes the boat should be drawn by the 
hand, and by grappling-hooks, from one root or over- 
hanging tree to another, or drawn by towing-lines, when 
the shores were sufficiently clear to allow the men to 
pass along the banks. Sometimes a part of the crew 
would have to leap into the water at the shallows, and 
wade along with the towing-lines, while their comrades 
on board assisted them with oar and setting-pole. Some- 
times the boat would seem to be retained motionless, as 
if spell-bound, opposite some point round which the cur- 
rent set with violence, and with the utmost labour scarce 
effected any visible progress. When it is considered 
that they penetrated into the interior to the distance of 
three or four thousand miles — exposed sometimes to a 
scorching sun, sometimes to the most piercing cold — 
cutting their way through drifting ice — suffering from 
physical privations, through unknown and barren regions 
— beset with dangers, without any certain prospect of 
reaching any place of security and comfort, some con- 
ception may be formed of the life of a northwest voyage ur. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 51 

A stranger seeing these lig-ht and Sender vessels piled 
high with a load of goods of evefy kind packed in bales, 
each weighing ninety pounds ; with their various neces- 
saries of clothing, food, &c,, also stowed away in bales ; 
and with hampers, boxes, &c., containing the articles of 
the officers ; and seeing them weighed down in the water 
to the gunwale's edge — he would think it an act of utter 
desperation to attempt to pass in them through boisterous, 
intricate, and obstructed waters. But so practised, hardy, 
and zealous arc these voyageurs, that danger or accident 
but very rarely occurs. 

There arc no birch canoes used in the Oregon country 
by the Company's servants. They use only the batteaux, 
which arc made of quarter-inch pine boards, and are 
thirty-two feet long, and six and a half feet wide in 
midships, with both ends sharp, and without a keel — 
worked, according to tlie circumstances of the naviga- 
tion. Math paddles, or with oars. These boats are found 
to be better adapted to the lakes and rivers there, than 
the canoes of the north. 

When the voyageurs arrive at a portage, whether the 
vessels used be canoes or batteaux, every thing is un- 
shipped ; and each voyagcur carries two bales, or one 
hundred and eighty pounds weight, on his back, held by 
a strap passing round his forehead, on which the force of 
the draught lies : and with this weight they will run on 
briskly, sometimes for miles. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Description of the present settlement at I'cd River — hunting 
the buffalo. 

When the Northwest Company became merged in the 
Hudson's Bay Company, and the latter were left at full 



52 OREGON TERRITORY. 

liberty to proseculU their plans of improvement without 
rivalry or interruption,* they restored the settlement at 
Red River, and on a more extended scale. 

From the circumstances connected with its original 
formation — from the singularity of its position and cha- 
racter, it being a sort of oasis in the vast waste of a 
savage region — from its present and growing importance 
to the objects of the colony, a brief sketch of it may not 
be uninteresting. It is situated in the fiftieth degree of 
north latitude, and the ninety-seventh of west longitude, 
at an elevation of about one thousand feet above the level 
of the sea, and near the confluence of the Red and As- 
sinaboine rivers, whose united waters run northward 
about thirty miles, into Lake Winnipeg, which receives 
many other tributary streams. These two large rivers 
flow through a fertile country of vast extent, which pos- 
sesses a salubrious climate. The Red River rises in the 
United States, near the sources of the Mississippi, and 
runs northward. The Assinaboine flows from the north- 
west. The cold season lasts about five months, from 
November till April. But the ice on Lake Winnipeg does 
not break up till May. At the opening of the fine season, 
an immense quantity of sturgeon and other fisli is caught. 
There are occasionally summer frosts, generated by un- 
drained marshes, which impede the exertions of the 
husbandman ; but this evil is gradually melting away 
before the march of cultivation. The range of the settle- 
ment stretches upwards of fifty miles along. the romantic 
and woody banks of those rivers. Their borders are cul- 
tivated to the breadth of nearly a mile ; all the back 
country remaining in a great measure in its original 
state — a vast natural pasture, covered for tlie greater 
part of the year with cattle, and furnishing the colonists 
with a sufficient quantity of hay for the support of their 
herds during the winter. Horses, horned cattle, hogs, 
and poultry, are exceedingly numerous. Sheep liave been 
brought at great expense by the Company, from England 



OUEGOX TERUITORV. S3 

and the United States, and are reared with success. 
Wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, turnips, and most of the 
culinary vegetables, thrive well. Pumpkins, melons, and 
cucumbers arrive at maturity in the open air, in the 
favourable season. The cultivation of maize, peas, and 
beans promises success. Hops grow luxuriantly. Flax 
and hemp, which have been introduced, show every 
appearance, in progress of time, of being made profitable 
crops. In fine, this extraordinary colony, in so high a 
latitude, is likely to be rendered productive in all the 
necessaries and comforts even, and many of the luxuries 
of civilized Europe. 

The most common sorts of wood are oak, poplar, elm, 
and maple ; pines are likewise found towards Lake Win- 
nipeg. On this lake two-decked vessels ply, in summer, 
between the colony and the entrepot at Norway House, 
which is situated at its northern extremity, where the 
river navigation to Hudson's Bay commences, as tiie 
lake is emptied into that bay by the Nelson River. Fire- 
wood is rafted down the rivers, from above the limits of 
the colony, during the summer, or transported on sledges 
during the snow and frost. But to obviate all chance of 
a scarcity in the supply of this article, the colonists are 
providing themselves with cast-iron stoves, which occa- 
sion a much less consumption of fuel. As the population 
is chiefly Catliolic, and as the colony is, at present, the 
most suitable centre from wliich to spread the blessings 
of religion and civilization over that immense tract of 
country, a Roman Catholic bishop has been stationed 
there. The two principal churches — the Protestant and 
the Roman Catholic — the jail, the Company's chief 
buildings, the bishop's residence, and the houses of some 
retired officers of the fur trade — who choose this as their 
lasting home, in place of returning to their native country 
— are built of stone. The generality of settlers live in 
frame or log houses, roofed with wooden slabs, bark, or 
shingles ; and are for the most part whitewashed or painted, 
5* 



54 OREGON TERraTORY. 

externally. Every man, however low his condition, pos- 
sesses a horse ; and they vie with each other in gay cur- 
ricles, harness, saddles, and fine clothes. A great abun- 
dance of English goods is imported, both by the Company 
and by individuals, in the Company's annual ships, to 
York Factor}'', at Hudson's Bay, and disposed of in the 
colony at moderate prices. Labour is dear, and produce 
of every kind sells at a higher price than could be ex- 
pected in a place so remote and secluded. Domestic 
manufactures are beginning to make way, and, by dimi- 
nishing the annual orders from England, to make the 
people more independent. They now manufacture coarse 
cloths, stuffs, shav>ds, linen, sacking, leather. Sec. ; and 
even for their grain and domestic cattle, they are begin- 
ning to find a market among tlic Americans of the level 
plains leading to the Mississippi and the St. Peter's ; 
and it is probable that before long they will export hides, 
tallow, wool, hemp, and flax to England. 

The currency of the place consists of the Company's 
notes, with a smaller amount of silver and copper coin. 
There are fifteen wind and three water mills, to grind 
the wheat and prepare the malt for the inhabitants, who 
use neither barley nor oats in bread. Though tlie Pro- 
testants constitute but two-fifths of the population, yet 
all these mills are in their hands, except two, which have 
been erected by a Roman Catholic, in the Companj^'s pay, 
as warden of the plains. It may be remarked that, while 
many of the children of the Company's retired European 
servants, who are chiefly Orkneymen, by native women, 
inherit the plodding and careful disposition of their 
fathers, the half-bred descendants of the French Canadians 
are generally characterized by their fathers' levity and 
extravagance, and their mothers' violent passions. Many 
of the Scotch, who first planted the colony in 1812, under 
the auspices of the Earl of Selkirk, hav-e amassed liand- 
gome sums of money, besides rearing large families in 



OREGON TERRITORY. 55 

rustic plenty. Some, fearinof the consequences of inter- 
marrying with the half breeds, have migrated elsewhere. 

The Company, besides extensive purchases of grain 
and provision for their transport and other service, an- 
nually expends large sums at Red River for works of 
pubhc utiUty, such as experimental farming — the erec- 
tion of churches, and other buildings — endowing schools 
— affording medical aid gratis to the poor — encouraging 
domestic manufactures — maintaining an armed police — 
dispensing justice, and in contributing to the support of 
two Protestant clergymen, of a Roman Catholic bishop, 
and three priests from Canada. Through the exertions 
of these zealous ministers a great number of the Indians, 
of the Cree and Salteaux or Chippeway nations, have 
been converted and located. From this heavy outlay the 
Company has hitherto had no return ; for the occasional 
sale of lands has not as yet defrayed the expenses of the 
survey, (they being, in most instances, bestowed gratis, 
though purchased from the Indians), and the immediate 
neighbourhood has been stripped of the fur-bearing ani- 
mals. Yet, under the Company's fostering care, a popu- 
lation of five thousand persons has been reared up in 
plenty, comfort, and civilization ; and the colony is every 
day growing in numbers, wealth, and importance. Tliere 
are also excellent boarding-schools established by the 
Rev. Mr. Jones, where nearly one hundred youth of both 
sexes, the children of the Company's officers, and the 
more respectable settlers, are trained up in European ac- 
complishments, and in the strictest principles of religion. 

The Indian settlements, too, at the lower extremity of 
the colony, founded by the Rev. Mr. Cockrau, are worthy 
of notice. He has provided school-masters for the native 
children, and built places of worship, where he regularly 
officiates. He has also constructed a windmill for the 
Indians — assists them in erecting their wooden houses ; 
and in every way sets them the example of industry. At 
the other extremity of the colony, Mr. Balcour, one o? the 



56 OREGOX TERRITORY. 

Roman Catholic priests, conducts a location of Salteaux 
Indians on a smaller scale. The colony has also a semi- 
nary, from winch home missionaries — young' Indians edu- 
cated in the Church Missionary Society's school — are 
to be sent to instruct their countrymen in various parts 
of the Company's almost unbounded territories. In the 
countries of the Columbia and New Caledonia, to the 
westward of the great Rocky Mountain chain, these mis- 
sionary labours will have a rich field. Tliere the climate 
is softened by the influences of the Pacific : food is abun- 
dant ; the numerous natives do not lead the same solitary 
wandering and precarious lives as the northeastern 
tribes, but dwell together in villages. They are endowed 
with a greater capacity and quickness of apprehension; 
are men pliant and tractable in temper ; appreciate more 
the talents, attainments, and social arts of the white men; 
and are fonder of imitating and adopting their customs 
and principles. Therefore they seem now more disposed 
to embrace the doctrines of Christianity, to many prin- 
ciples of which their own belief approximates, from 
those on whom, a few years ago, they committed the 
most barbarous murders. 

But in the dreary regions of the north, where the In- 
dian hunters are scattered through interminable forests ; 
and where civilization can but slowly, if ever, penetrate, 
the prospects of their conversion are fainter and more 
remote. Yet even among these, since the coalition of the 
rival companies, and the dismissal of the numerous 
swarms of adventurers, who, encouraged by the license 
of fierce opposition, overran and nearly ruined the coun- 
try, morality, order, and integrity have been, in some de- 
gree, introduced through the agency of the Company's 
officers. Referring to the improved condition of the In- 
dians, produced through the instrumentality of the Com- 
pany, Mr. Simpson observes, " no stronger proof of the 
salutary effect of their injunctions can be adduced than 
that, while peace and decorum mark the general conduct 



OREGON TERRITORY. 57 

of the northern tribes, bloodshed, rapine, and unbridled 
lust, are the characteristics of the fierce hordes of Assina. 
boines, Piegans, Black feet, Circees, Fall, and Blood In- 
dians, who inhabit the plains between the Saskatchewan 
and the ^Missouri rivers, and which are without the pale 
of the Company's influence and authority." 

Among the many advantages which the Company is 
labouring to bestow on the whole race of Indians, one of 
the most important is the cementing of fraternal and 
pacific feelings between them, and the reconciliation of 
their inveterate feuds. Formerly it was the vile and per- 
nicious practice of rival traders to foment the discords of 
the several tribes, with a view of reaping advantage from 
them ; for they often succeeded, by weakening one after 
the other, in reducing both to entire submissiveness to 
their purposes ; and they could then dictate the terms of 
trading with them as they pleased : or if they could not 
use them in this way, they used them as instruments to 
annoy their competitors, by crippling their trade, and 
raising up enemies against them. Thus the natives, in 
the complex and ramified system of commercial competi- 
tion for a long time carried on in the northwest, were 
committed against the traders, and became involved in 
hostility with one another. This hostility acquiring 
strength and inveteracy with each succeeding act of ag- 
gression and retaliation, outlived the original cause ; and 
often lasted for generations after the first instigators 
quitted the scene, and ceased to feel the remotest interest 
in the progress and consequences of their own misdoing. 
Their maxim seemed to be — 

" Mischief, thou art afoot ; 

Take now v.7hatever course thou wilt." 

But all the exertions of the Hudson's Bay Company to 
check and extinguish these evils are, to some extent, 
thwarted by the conduct of the United States' traders, 



56 OREGON TERRITORY. 

vvho labour to keep alive all the vices of tlie old Canadian 
system, and to introduce, with all their characteristic 
graspingness and perseverance, new ones. They con- 
sider that every artifice is legitimate in trade ; and in 
place of blushing at its infamy, they chuckle at its clever- 
ness. The Company has endeavoured to reconcile the 
hostile tribes to each other, — to induce them to spare the 
young of the fur-bearing animals, so as to preserve the 
breed, and keep the trade alive for the benefit of both 
parties in perpetuity ; and to discountenance the use of 
ardent spirits, which have been so baneful to the natives. 
But the Americans, for the sake of effecting an imme- 
diate and temporary gain, pursue generally the very op- 
posite course. 

At Red River the buffaloes are now seldom taken in 
pounds. Here it may be observed, that to a stranger the 
wild buffalo bull, with his large hump, glaring eyes, 
fierce aspect, and long beard, that almost sweeps the 
ground, when encountered in the recesses of the forest, 
or in the open plain, v.'here there is no chance of escape, 
is the most formidable animal in America — far more so 
than the panther, or grisly bear. In the summer and 
autumn large parties of the half-breed hunters, all mount- 
ed on their small Indian horses, which are well broken 
in to tliis sport, scatter themselves over the plains, camp- 
ing generally in the open air, or in tents covered with 
hides; or under their provision carts. As soon as the 
buffaloes are perceived, the young men gallop after them, 
and cither partially surprise them on the plains, or suc- 
ceed in driving them into some little valley or neck of 
land, projecting into a lake, where escape is difficult. A 
running fire tlicn opens all along the line. At the first 
volley the buffaloes scamper off. The hunters continue 
the pursuit, reloading their guns wliile their horses are in 
full gallop ; for the sake of expedition the bullets are car- 
ried in the mouth, and dropped into the barrel without 
any wadding : their small whips are attaclied by a band 



OREGON TERRITORY. 59 

to the rig^ht wrist. The horse, with wonderful sagacity, 
follows of liis own accord the animal which his rider has 
singled out, and brings him alongside ; and the rider then 
discharges his weapon unerringly. The horse then pur. 
sues another with similar success. In this way many 
buffaloes in succession arc shot by the same hunter ; and 
hundreds fall in a single race. No sight can be livelier 
than a camp of successful hunters. They generally pitch 
in some clump or point of woods : the provision carts 
form the outer circle, to which the horses are tied ; within 
this fires blaze on every side. The men smoke their 
pipes, or arrange their fire-arms ; while the women are 
employed in cooking a sumptuous repast. The jest and 
the laugh circulate freely all around. During the time 
the men are employed in hunting, the females are occu- 
pied in drying the spare meat, or converting it into 
pemican. 

Pemican. — This far-famed provender for man in the 
wilds of northern America is formed by pounding the 
choice parts of the meat very small, dried over a slow 
fire, or in the frost, and putting it into bags made of the 
skin of the slain animal ; into which a proportion of 
melted fat is then poured. The whole then being strongly 
compressed, and sewed up, constitutes the best and most 
portable food for the voyageurs, and one which, with 
proper care, will keep for a long time. Fifty pounds of 
pounded meat, and forty pounds of grease, make a bag of 
pemican. There is another kind, called the sweet pemi- 
can, of which berries constitute the chief ingredient. 

In the winter season, this sport assumes a more various 
character. When the snow is not deep, the buffalo may 
be run on horseback as in summer: indeed, if the herd be 
numerous, they beat such a track with their broad hoofs, 
that they are easily pursued. At other times they are 
approached by the hunter crawling on the snow. He 
walks up within a certain distance, far enough not to 
alarm the herd — then prostrates himself on the snow — 



60 OREGON TERRITORY. 

drags liimself along on his belly, with his gun trailing 
after him ; and in this way proceeds a long distance 
before he can get within reach when the buffaloes are 
shy. When fatigued with this laborious and unnatural 
motion, he stops for a time to recruit himself; he then 
throws up a little heap of snow before him to screen him 
from his prey. Some of the hunters are said to be so 
dexterous in this mode of approach, as actually to drive 
aside the old bulls who form the outer guard of the herd, 
in order to select the choicest of the cows. In order to 
effect this object, he wears the disguise of a close dun- 
coloured cap, furnished with upright ears, to give him 
the appearance of a wolf: for from constant association, 
that animal is regarded by the buffalo without dread. In 
the spring of the year, when there is a hard crust on the 
snow, produced by alternate thaw and frost, the buffa- 
loes are frequently run down by the hunters, and stabbed 
with their daggers, while floundering in the deep drifts, 
which yield to their weight, but support their pursuers, 
who are borne up by their snow-shoes. In this way, 
which is the easiest and safest of all, the animals fall a 
prey even to the boys and women. 

It is v/ell worth while to insert here tlie following 
sketch of the northern Indians, from Mr. Simpson : — 

" No people so soon get tired of any particular diet as 
Indians : and their longings for change, even amidst the 
best cheer, are often truly ridiculous. The flexibility of 
their stomachs is no less surprising. At one time they 
will gorge themselves with food, and are then prepared to 
go without any for several days, if necessary. Enter 
their tents ; sit there, if you can, for a whole day, and 
not for an instant will you find the fire unoccupied by 
persons of all ages cooking. When not hunting or tra- 
velling, they are, in fact, always eating. Now, it is a 
little roast, a partridge or rabbit perhaps ; now, a tid-bit 
broiled under the ashes ; anon, a portly kettle, well filled 
with venison, swings over the fire ; tlien comes a choice 



OREGON TERRITORY. 61 

dish of curdled blood, followed by the sinews and marrow- 
bones of deer's legs singed on the embers. And so the 
grand business of life goes unceasingly round, inter- 
rupted only by sleep. Another physical singularity of the 
northern tribes is, that though capable of resisting with 
great fortitude the most intense cold, they are wonder- 
fully fond of fire. At an establishment, even when the 
weather is mild and pleasant out of doors, they are to be 
seen heaping on fuel in the house, and actually sitting 
cross-legged on the hearth, where a white man would 
speedily be roasted. I have, however, remarked that the 
invariable effect of North American climate is to render 
even Europeans more chilly than on their first arrival ; 
from which we must infer that there is something debili- 
tating in the climate or mode of life. It is a general rule 
among the traders, not to believe the first story of an 
Indian. He will tell you on arriving that there are no 
deer, and afterwards acknowledge them to be numerous ; 
that he has been starving, when he has been living in 
abundance ; that certain individuals are dead, yet after 
he has smoked his pipe, and eaten his fill, ask him what 
is the matter with these same persons, and he will de- 
scribe some trifling ailments, a surfeit, perhaps ; for 
though at times these people endure with great fortitude, 
the least sickness makes them say, ' I am going to die I' 
— a trait that also extends to their half-breed descen- 
dants." 

Much has been written about the origin of the popula- 
tion of North Am.erica. The general opinion seems to 
incline to the theory, that they came from Asia. It doen 
not come within the scope of my present purpose to enter 
on this inquiry, even were I competent to the task ; but I 
ma}' state what has been the most probable result of phi- 
losophical inquiry, and already mentioned by others. 

The tribes who possess the vast region to the north- 
ward of a line drawn from Churchill on Hudson's Bay, 
across the Rocky Mountains to New Caledonia and the 
& 



bSa OREGON TERRITORY. 

Pacific, comprehending the Chipewyans ; the Copper In- 
dians ; the Beaver Indians, of Peace River ; the Dog-ribs, 
and Hare Indians, of M'Kenzie River, and Great Bear 
Lal^e ; the Thoecanies, Nahanies, and Dahadinuchs, of 
the mountains ; and the Carriers, of New Caledonia, all 
speak different dialects of the same original tongue. 
Next to these succeed the Crees, speaking another dis- 
tinct language, and occupying another great section of 
the continent, extending from lesser Slave Lake through 
the woody country on the north side of the Saskatchewan 
River, by Lake Winnipeg to York Factory, and from 
thence round the shores of Hudson and James Bays. 
South of the fiftieth parallel, the circles of affinity con- 
tract, but can still be easily traced. The Carriers of 
New Caledonia, like the people of Hindostan, used, till 
lately, to burn their dead — a ceremony in which the 
widow of the deceased, though not sacrificed as in the 
latter country, was obliged to continue beating on the 
breast of the corpse, while it slowly consumed on the fu- 
neral pile ; in which cruel duty she was often severely 
scorched. Instead of being burned, she was obliged to 
serve, as a slave, the relatives of her deceased husband 
for a series of years, during which she wore around her 
neck a small bag, containing part of the bones or ashes 
of her former husband. At the end of the allotted term, 
a feast was made, and she was declared at liberty to 
cast off the symbols of her widowhood, and wed again. 
These customs have been abolished by the Hudson's Bay 
Company. 



OREGON TERRITORY, 63 



CHAPTER VII. 

Remarks on the Company's present principles of dealing; and 
the mode of traffic among many of the northern tribes. 

The principle universally acted on throughout the 
Company's territories, which have been now reduced, 
considering their vast extent, and the many difficulties to 
be encountered, to a state of astonishing quiet, peace, 
and good government, is, that the true interests of the 
native Indian and the white resident are indissolubly 
united ; and that no immediate advantage, or prospect 
of it, is to stand in the way of improving the condition 
of the natives. 

The following extract from the standing orders of the 
Company, will convey an idea — though a faint one — of 
the wise, humane, and liberal spirit by which it is 
actuated. 

"That the Indians be treated with kindness and in- 
dulgence ; and mild and conciliatory means resorted to, 
in order to encourage industry, repress vice, and inculcate 
moralit}^ — that the use of spirituous liquors be gradually 
discontinued in the few districts in which it is yet indis- 
pensable ; and that the Indians be liberally supplied with 
requisite necessaries — particularly with articles of ammu- 
nition, whether they have the means of paying for them, 
or not." 

Since these general orders were issued, the Company, 
finding the success of this humane and judicious policy 
gradually answering the proposed aim, has at last adopted 
the bold and decisive course of abolishing altogether the 
use of spirituous liquors as articles of trade with the 



64 OREGON TERRITORY. 

natives. They have not only done tliis in tlie territories 
within their own jurisdiction ; but have, by a new article 
introduced into the treaty of commerce, entered into with 
the Russians by Sir George Simpson, stipulated that the 
Russians should act, in their trading with the natives, on 
the same principle. So that henceforward one source of 
demoralization will be dried up. 

It is not only the inclination of the Company to render 
the natives comfortable, and pacific, and civilized, but it 
is their manifest interest. The natives are best able to 
exert themselves in collecting furs and provisions, when 
they are best clothed, and supplied with ammunition ; 
and they are best qualified to exert their individual and 
united powers for the prosecution of their trade, on which 
their own immediate and ultimate good depends, when 
they are brought to a state of peace with each other, and 
their savage passions and appetites checked. So far has 
it been the wish or policy of the Company not to acquire 
an undue influence over them by loading them with 
debts, that repeated attempts have been made to reduce 
the trade to simple barter ; and they have often cancelled 
the debts of whole tribes — for instance, since the junction 
of the two companies in 1821, the debts of the Chipe- 
wyans have been twice cancelled. But from the peculiar 
disposition and customs of the Indians — especially the 
northern Indians — these good intentions have not yet 
produced all the hoped-for good, although they are gra- 
dually working out their object. 

The Chipewyans have a custom which, until eradi- 
cated, must operate as a check on their progressive 
prosperity. On the death of a relative, tiiey destroy 
guns, ammunition, blankets, kettles ; in short every thing 
they possess ; and conclude the havoc by tearing their 
huts to pieces. When these transports of grief have 
subsided, they find themselves reduced to utter want, 
and are obliged to resort to the nearest establishments 



OREGON TERRITORY. 65 

for a fresh supply of necessaries ; and thus their debts 
are renewed, and their wants periodically kept alive. 

In some parts of the Indian territory, the hunting: 
grounds descend by inheritance among the natives ; and 
this right of property is rigidly enforced. But where no- 
such salutary law prevails, their main source of wealth — 
the beaver — would soon be exhausted by the eager search 
of the hunters, if the Company had not adopted judicious 
regulations to prevent the havoc ; for they have, for 
several years past, used every effort, through their officers, 
to exhort the natives to spare the young of that animal. 
This praiseworthy design has been successful in propor- 
tion as the natives have become enlightened, and enabled 
to see their own ti'ue interests; and the breed is now 
preserved in districts where, not long since, they were 
threatened with extinction. But the attempt will be 
easily understood to be one of extreme difficulty, in 
consequence of the passion for depriving the animal 
creation of life so strongly implanted in the breast of the 
North American Indian, that it costs him a pang to pass 
bird, beast, or fish, without an effiDrt to destroy it, whether 
he stands in need of it or not. The tendency to destruc- 
tiveness is a vehement instinct of their nature. 

Near York Factory, in 1831, this propensity, contrary 
to all the remonstrances of the Company's servants at 
that place, led to the indiscriminate destruction of a 
countless herd of reindeer, while crossing the broad 
stream of Haye's River, in the height of summer. The 
natives took some of the meat for present use, but thou- 
sands of carcasses were abandoned to the current, and 
infected the river's banks, or drifted down into Hudson's 
Bay, there to feed the sea-fowls and polar bears. As if 
it were a judgment for this wanton slaughter, in which 
women and children participated, the deer have never 
since visited that part of the country in similar numbers. 
In short, the Indians, accustomed either to a feast or a 
fast, have little idea beyond the present gratification; 
6* 



66 OREGON TERRITORY. 

and it is to this imprudence that deaths by starvation, 
and the occasional desertion of infants, and the helpless 
aged, must be ascribed. 

The quantity of provisions furnished by the Indians to 
the establishments throughout the northern districts, is 
inconsiderable. In the winter season, it is limited to the 
rib pieces of the moose, red, and reindeer, half dried in 
the smoke of their huts or tents, (the bones being removed 
for lightness of carriage,) with an occasional addition of 
some tongues. In the course of the summer, when the 
animals are easily hunted, and there is great facility of 
water-transport, the more industrious families usually 
bring to the fort a bale of dried meat, consisting of the 
fleshy parts of the deer, cut into large slices and dried in 
the sun, with a bladder or two containing fat, or a bag of 
pemican. 

When the residents of a fort find these supplies, and 
the produce of their fisheries, and of their cultivated plots 
of groimd (where the gromid, from the nature of the soil 
and climate, is capable of cultivation), insufficient to 
supply their wants, they engage two or more young 
Indians, without families, as "fort hunters." These are 
considered as regular servants ; and their duty is confined 
to the killing of large animals for the use of the establish, 
ments. They are allowed to keep a j>ortion of the meat, 
sufficient for their own consumption : the remainder is 
transported to the forts, wath sledges and dogs, by the 
servants of the Company. 

To become a fort hunter is an object of ambition to 
the northern Indian, as it is an acknowledgment of his 
skill and fidelity, and insures to him the gayest clothing. 
Every prudent manager of a post endeavours to procure 
more provisions than the actual wants of his cliarge 
require. He is thus enabled, from his supplies, to afford 
the natives timely relief, and to conciliate their good- 
will, and point out to them the expediency of forethought 
and economy. These remarks do not apply to the com- 



OREGON TEURITORY. 6t 

paratively mild climate of the Saskatchewan, where the 
plains teem with buffaloes ; nor to the still more southerly 
districts, bordering on Canada, where the natives and 
the people are in a great measure fed on provisions 
imported by the Company. 



CHAPTER VIJI. 

The Knisteneaux Indians. 

These people, from whom are sprung many tribes, 
under different names, are spread over a vast extent of 
country. Their language is the same as that of the people 
who inhabit the coast of British America on the Atlantic, 
and continues along the coast of Labrador, and the gulf 
and banks of the St. Lawrence to Montreal. The line 
then follows the Utawns River to its source, and con- 
tinues thence nearly west along the high lands that 
divide the waters that flow into Lake Superior on the 
one hand, and Hudson's Bay on the other. It then 
proceeds till it strikes the middle part of Lake Winnipeg, 
and right through it, to the discharge of the Saskatchewan 
into it. From thence it accompanies the latter to Fort 
George, when the line, striking by the head of the Beaver 
River to the Elk River, runs along its banks to its dis- 
charge into the Lake of the Hills, from which it may be 
carried back, east, to Isle a la Crosse, and so on to 
Churchill by the Missinippi. 

The whole of the tract between this line and Hudson's 
Bay and Straits (except that of the Esquimaux in the 
latter) may be said to be exclusively the country of the 
Knisteneaux. Some of them, indeed, have penetrated 
further, west and south, to the Red River, and the south 
branch of the Saskatchewan. The similarity between 



08 I OREGON TERRITORY. 

their language and that of the Algonquins is clear proof 
that they are of the same stock. 

They are of moderate stature, well proportioned, and 
very active. Examples of deformity are seldom to be 
seen among them. Their complexion is copper colour, 
and their hair black, which is common to all the natives 
of America : it is generally cut in various forms, accord- 
ing to the fancy of tlie several tribes ; but by some it is 
left in the long, lank flow of nature. They mostly ex- 
tract their beard ; and both sexes manifest a disposition 
to pluck the hair from every part of the body and limbs. 
Their eyes are black and piercing : their countenances 
open and agreeable ; and it is a principal object of their 
ambition to give every possible decoration to their per- 
sons. For this purpose vermilion is a material article, 
which they contrast with their native white, blue, and 
brown earths, with a frequent addition of charcoal. 

" Of all the natives," says M'Kenzie, " which I have 
seen on this continent, the Knisteneaux women are the 
most comely ; their figure is well proportioned, and the 
regularity of their features would be acknowledged by 
the most civilized Europeans. Their complexion, too, is 
less dark than that of the less cleanly natives." 

The dress of the males is simple and commodious. It 
consists of gloves, shoes, and tight leggins, reaching 
nearly to the hip — a strip of cloth or leather, called as- 
sian, about a foot wide, and five feet long, whose ends are 
drawn inwards, and hang behind and before, over a belt, 
which fastens it round the waist, — a close vest or shirt, 
reaching down to the former garment, and cinctured mth 
a broad strip of parchment, fastened with thongs behind; 
and a cap for the head, consisting of a piece of fur, or 
small skin, with the hairy tail suspended as an ornament : 
over the whole a kind of robe is occasionally thrown. 
The materials vary according to the season ; and consist 
of dressed moose skin, — beaver, prepared with the fur on, 
or European woollens. The leather is neatly painted, 



OREGON TERRITORY. 69 

and fancifully worked, in some parts, with porcupines' 
quills and moose-deer hair ; the shirt and leggins are also 
adorned with fringe and tassels ; the shoes and gloves 
are also decorated witli taste and skill. Their dress is, 
however, put on according to fancy or convenience ; and 
they will sometimes proceed to the chase covered only 
with the slightest of them. Their head-dresses arc com- 
posed of the feathers of the swan, the eagle, and other 
birds. They also use tiie teeth, claws, and horns of dif. 
ferent animals, wherewith to ornament the head and neck. 
Their hair, however worn, is always besmeared with 
grease. All the articles of dress are made by the fe- 
males, who bestow peculiar pains on the decoration of 
the men, whose faces are also painted with more care 
than those of the women. 

The female dress is composed of the same materials 
as that of the men ; but of a different arrangement and 
make. Their shoes are commonly plain, and their leg- 
gins gartered below the knee. The vest falls down to 
the middle of the leg, and is fastened round the shoulders 
with cords, a flap or cape turning down about eight 
inches before and behind, and neatly ornamented with 
quill-work and fringe ; the bottom is also fringed, and 
fancifully painted as high as the knee. As it is very 
loose, it is fastened round the waist with a stiff belt, de- 
corated with tassels, and tied behind. The arms are 
covered to the wrist with detached sleeves, which are 
sowed as far as the bend of the arm ; from thence they 
are drawn up to the back, and the corners of them fall 
down behind as far as the waist. The cap, when they 
wear one, consists of leather or cloth, sowed at one end, 
by which means it is kept on the head, and, hanging 
down the back, is fastened to the waist belt, and is also 
tied under the chin. They also have an upper robe like 
that of the men. Their hair is divided on the crown, 
and tied beliind, or fastened in large knots under the ears. 
They are fond of European articles ; and, like other sa.- 



70 OREGON TERRITORY. 

vages, wear bracelets, rings, and other baubles. Some- 
times they tattoo three perpendicular lines — one from the 
centre of the chin to the centre of the under lip, and one 
parallel on each side to the corner of the mouth. 

Chastity is not considered a virtue among them. Plu- 
rality of wives is allowed, and so is an interchange of 
wives ; but if a w^ife commit an indiscretion without the 
consent of the husband, she is liable to severe punishment, 
such as the loss of her hair, nose, or ornaments. When 
a young man marries he resides with his wife's parents, 
who, however, treat him as a stranger, till the birth of his 
first cliild ; he then attaches himself to them more than 
to his own parents, and the wife always calls him by the 
title of father of her child. When a man loses his wife, 
it is considered his duty to marry her sister : or he may 
have several sisters together. They are, generally, hos- 
pitable, generous, and mild, except when inflamed by spi- 
rituous liquors ; and are indulgent and attentive to their 
children. 

The occupation of the men is war and hunting only. 
The women make the nets ; dress the skins ; collect the 
wood ; erect the tents ; and perform all the domestic 
work ; and attend to the children. Hence their life is 
one of great toil ; and, from a consciousness of this, they 
sometimes destroy their female children, and procure 
abortions, which they effect by means of certain simples, 
and without risk of life to themselves. 

Their funeral rites begin, like all their other ceremo- 
nials, with smoking, and end with a feast. The body is 
dressed in the best habiliments of the deceased, or of his 
relations ; and is deposited in a grave, lined with 
branches ; some domestic utensils are placed in it, and a 
canopy erected over it. During this ceremony great la- 
mentations are made ; and, if the deceased be much re- 
spected, his relations cut off their hair, and pierce the 
fleshy parts of their thighs and arms with arrows, knives, 
&c. ; and blacken their faces with charcoal. In some 



OREGON TERRITORY. 71 

instances the women used to sacrifice themselves to the 
manes of their husbands. The whole of the property of 
the deceased is destroyed ; and when the relations give 
up their garments they are willing to take any rags to 
cover their nakedness. This imprudent custom tends to 
keep them in poverty, and compels them often to resort 
to the bounty of the Hudson's Bay Company. At tlie 
funeral feast eulogies are pronounced on the deceased ; 
and on his tomb are carved the symbols of his tribe, 
which are taken from the different animals of the coun- 
try ; and also, if he had in any way distinguished him- 
self, memorials of his own deeds. 

Before they engage in Av^ar the chief summons the 
warriors to a council, for which they prepare themselves 
by long meditations and fasting. When they have as- 
sembled, the chief formally explains the subject; and, if 
they agree to take up arms, they smoke with him the 
sacred pipe ; and this is considered a sufficient enrolment. 
Every one who attends the meeting brings with him 
something as an offering to the Spirit ; and when the 
assembly dissolves, these offerings are suspended from 
poles near the place of council. 

They have, at stated seasons, such as the spring and 
autumn, long and solemn ceremonies. On these occa- 
sions, dogs, as the most useful of their domestic animals, 
are sacrificed ; those that are very fat and milk-white are 
preferred. The scene of these religious rites is an open 
and elevated space on the banks of some lake or river, so 
that all persons passing by may be attracted to the spot 
and make their offerings. But if any one, a member of 
the tribe or a stranger, should be in want of any article 
displayed as an offering, he may take it, provided he 
replaced it with some other article, though of ever such 
inferior value. But to take any thing wantonly is gross 
sacrilege. 

There are also private feasts, attended with religious 
ceremonies, given by individuals on many occasions, of 



72 OREGON' TERRITORY. 

which due announcement is given. On this occasion the 
host's lodge is completely cleared out, and decked round 
with fresh boughs in every part. Even a new hearth is 
made. The owner remaining in it alone, spreads out a 
well-dressed moose-skin, neatly painted, (of late they 
sometimes use cloth,) on which he lays out the contents 
of his medicine or holy bag — consisting of various ar- 
ticles ; the principal of which is a sort of household god 
— a curiously carved image, about eight inches long. This 
is first covered with down, over which a piece of beech- 
bark is closely tied, and the whole enveloped in folds of 
skins, or cloth, red and blue. This figure is an object of 
the most pious regard. The next article is the war-cap, 
which is decorated with the plumes of scarce birds, and 
with beavers' and eagles' claws. Sec, and to which is 
suspended a quill or feather for every enemy which the 
owner has slain. Then follow other articles — the pipe and 
tobacco ; and roots and simples esteemed for their medi- 
cinal properties. These articles being exposed, and the 
stem of the pipe resting on two prongs, as it must not touch 
the ground, he calls in the person whom he means most 
to honour — and who sits down opposite him. Then the 
bowl of the pipe is filled, and is fixed to the stem. A 
pair of wooden pincers is provided, to place the fire in 
the pipe ; and a double-pointed pin to empty it of the 
remnant of the tobacco not used. The remainder of the 
guests are then summoned in ; and the most solemn awe 
pervades the whole. The women are generally allowed 
to be spectators at a distance. The assistant lights the 
pipe, and presents it to the host, or officiating person, who 
holds it between both his hands, and standing. He then 
turns to the east, and draws a few whiffs, which he blows 
to that point: he observes the same ceremony towards 
the other quarters ; his eyes being directed upwards all the 
time. He then holds the stem about the middle, between 
the three first fingers of both hands, and raising it on a 
level with his forehead, he swings it three times round, 



OREGON TERRITORY. 73 

beginning- from the cast, with the course of the sun ; 
when, after poising and pointing it in various directions, 
he replaces it on the prongs. He next makes a speech 
to explain his object in inviting them, and concludes with 
an acknowledgment of past favours, and a prayer for a 
continuance of them from the Master of Life. He then 
sits down ; and the whole company declare their appro- 
bation and thanks by loud and prolonged sighs. After 
this the assistant takes vip the pipe, and holds it to the 
mouth of the host, who, after smoking three whiffs, utters 
a short prayer, then hands it round (taking his course 
from east to west) to each guest, who smokes, and 
mutters something to him on the occasion. Thus the 
pipe is generally smoked out ; when the host, after turn- 
ing it three or four times round his head, drops it down- 
wards, and replaces it on the original props. After this 
he returns the company thanks for their attendance, and 
wishes them all happiness. 

These smoking rites precede every matter of great im- 
portance ; and sometimes they are politic. If a chief 
wishes to sound the disposition of his people towards 
him, or wishes to reconcile any differences between them, 
he invites them to see his medicine (or holy) bag opened, 
and smoke the sacred stem with him. As the ceremony 
of smoking with the sacred stem dissipates all differences 
and cannot be violated, no one who entertains a grudge 
towards any of the party can smoke the pipe with him. 
No one can avoid attending on these occasions ; but a 
person may be excused from assisting at the ceremonies 
by declaring that he has not undergone the necessary 
purification : for instance, cohabitation with his wife 
v.'ithin twenty-four hours before the ceremony, renders a 
man unclean, and unfit to join in any part of the rite. 
All contracts solemnized by this smoking ceremony are 
held inviolable. 

When the chief proposes a feast, he sends quills, or 
small pieces of wood, as tokens of invitation. Every 
7 



74 OREGON TERRITORY. 

guest brings a dish and knife, and takes his place beside 
the chief, according to age or rank. The pipe is then 
lighted, and the chief makes an equal division of the 
viands. While the guests are eating, the chief sings, 
and plays with the tambourin, or the rattle. He who has 
first eaten his portion is held in estimation. If any one 
cannot finish his share, he off'ers a reward — such as 
ammunition or tobacco, to some friend to eat the re- 
mainder. But before they commence these feasts they 
offer a small quantity of the meat and drink, as a sacri- 
fice, by throwing it into the fire, or pouring it on the 
earth. Generally the quantity' supplied to the guests, 
must be eaten, however immense ; but on some occasions 
they are allowed to take the surplus to be eaten at home. 
Care is always taken that the bones be burned, as it 
would be profanation if the dogs touched them. 

At their public feasts they discuss various topics — 
repeat the heroic deeds of their fathers, and encourage 
the rising generation to follow their example ; w^hile the 
women sing and dance around the tents, beating time to 
the music within. 

They commence their divisions of time by the night ; 
and compute the length of their journeys by the number 
of nights passed in performing them. They also divide 
the year by the succession of moons. 

They know the medical virtues of many herbs, roots 
of plants, and barks of trees. When a blister rises on 
the foot, from frost, or the chafing of the shoe, &c., they 
open it with their flint lancet, and apply the heated blade 
of a knife to that part ; and as the best remedy for 
sprains, they apply the dung of an animal just killed. 
However, much of their remedies and surgical opera- 
tions is supposed to derive effect from mtfgic and incan- 
tations. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 75 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Chipewyan Indians. 

These are a numerous people, who consider the coun- 
try between the parallels of latitude 60 and 65 north, and 
longitude 100 and 110 west, as their home. Their Ian- 
guage furnishes dialects to the various migratory tribes 
who inhabit the following immense tract of country. It 
begins at Churchill, and runs along the line of separation 
between them and the Knisteneaux, up the Missinippi to 
Isle k la Crosse, passing on through Buffalo Lake, River 
Lake, and Portage k la Loche : from thence it proceeds 
by the Elk River to the Lake of the Hills, and goes di- 
rectly west to the Peace River, and up that river to its 
source ; from whence it proceeds to the waters of the Co- 
lumbia, and follows that river to latitude 52 north, and 
longitude 122 west, where the Cliipewyans have the Chin 
nation for their neighbours. How far they follow the 
Rocky Mountains to the east, is not easy to determine ; 
but they extend a long way through the prairies. 

They are generally a timorous, reserved, and sober 
race, not addicted to spirituous liquors. They will pa- 
tiently submit to severe treatment, if conscious that they 
deserve it; but will not submit to unnecessary rigour. 
In their mutual quarrels they are not sanguinary or 
savage ; generally contenting themselves with thumping, 
pulling the hair, and calling abusive names. 

Their notions about the Creation are very remarkable. 
They believe that, at first, the globe was one vast ocean, 
not inhabited by any living creature ; but that the Great 
Spirit came down in the shape of a mighty bird, whose 



76 OREGON TERRITORY. 

eyes were fire, whose glances were lightning-, and the 
clapping of whose wings was thunder. He rested on the 
ocean, and immediately the land rose, and remained on 
the surface of the water. This omnipotent bird then pro- 
duced all the variety of animals from the earth, except 
the Chipewyans, who were produced from a dog : and 
this circumstance occasions their aversion to the flesh of 
that animal, as well as to the people who eat it. The 
Great Spirit having finished his work, he made an arrow, 
which was to be preserved with great care, and remain 
untouched ; but the Chipewyans were so devoid of under- 
standing, as to carry it awa}'. This sacrilege so enraged 
the great bird, that he has never since appeared. They 
believe that there was a great deluge, which spread over 
the whole earth, except the highest mountains ; on the 
top of which their ancestors preserved themselves. They 
have also a tradition among them, that they originally 
came from a remote country, inhabited by wicked people; 
and had traversed a great lake, which was narrow and 
full of islands ; also, that in ancient times their ancestors 
lived till their feet were worn out with walking, and their 
throats with eating. 

The teader cannot fail to notice the curious coinci- 
dence between this notion of the creation and the Mosaic 
account : " the earth was without form, and void, and 
the Spirit of God moved on tlie surface of the waters." 
Here I may remark, that the word which in our transla- 
tion is rendered moved, the commentators say means, in 
the original Hebrew, brooded, or hatched ; and Milton, 
who in his scriptural allusions and quotations follows the 
original, takes the word in this sense. — Paradise Lost, 
b. vii. V. 235. Speaking of Creation, he says : — 

On the watery calm 



His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread, 
And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth, 
Throughout the fluid mass. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 77 

Their ideas about the arrow would seem to indicate tliat 
they have a confused and corrupted notion of the tree of 
knowledge and the forbidden fruit — the arrow being more 
adapted to their condition than an apple. Their tradition 
about coming originally from a remote country, inhabited 
by wicked people, would remind one of the dispersion of 
mankind after the erection of the tower of Babel : and 
their ancestors having lived so long, until their feet were 
worn out with walking, and their throats with eating, is 
a graphic mode of describing the longevity and sensuality 
of the antediluvians. 

They believe in the immortality of the soul, and in a 
state of future rewards and punishments. They believe 
that immediately after death they pass into another world, 
where they arrive at a large river, on which they embark 
in a stone canoe ; and that a gentle current bears them 
on to an extensive lake, in the centre of which is a most 
beautiful island ; and that within sight of this delightful 
abode they receive tliat judgment for their conduct during 
life, v/hich terminates tlieir final state and unalterable 
allotment. If their good actions are declared to predo- 
minate, they are landed on the island, where there is to 
be no end to their happiness ; which, however, according 
to their notions consists chiefly in sensual pleasures. But 
if their bad actions predominate, the stone canoe sinks at 
once, and leaves them up to their chins in the water, to 
behold and regret the reward enjoyed by the good ; and 
eternally struggling, but with unavailing endeavours, to 
reach the blissful island. 

Their stature is of a moderate standard. Their com- 
plexion is swarthy : their features are coarse, and their 
hair lank ; and their eyes are not so generally piercing, 
nor their countenances so animated as those of other 
Indians. 

The women have a more agreeable aspect than the 
men ; but their gait is awkward, which proceeds from 
their being accustomed, nine months in the year, to 
7* 



78 OREGON TERRITORY. 

travel \\4th their large snow-shoes, and drag" sledges, of a 
weight from two to four hundred pounds. Tliey are 
very submissive to their husbands, who sometimes, how- 
ever, in fits of jealousy cut off their hair, of which they 
are very proud, wearing it in fantastic tresses, or in plaits, 
to a great length ; and treat tliem witli fatal severity be- 
sides. Sometimes their natm-al inclinations are coerced 
by their fathers, as is the case in more civilized life ; and 
they are transferred for a consideration, to live as compa- 
nions with more wealthy husbands or protectors. The 
men in general extract their beard ; and cut the hair in 
various forms, according to fancy, or leave it in the long 
natural flow. Both sexes have blue or black bars, or 
from one to four straight lines, on their cheeks or fore- 
head, to distinguish the tribe to which they belong. 
These marks are eitlier tattooed, or made by drawing a 
thread, dipped in the necessary colours, across the skin. 

Plurality of wives is allowed ; and the women are be- 
trothed by their parents at an early age, according as in- 
terest or partiality leads them : and if a separation takes 
place, it must be with the consent of the husband. There 
are particular skins of animals, as the bear and wolf, 
which the women never touch, as they arc unclean 
animals ; and these animals the men are seldom known 
to kill. 

There are no people more attentive to the comforts of 
dress. The dress of the men, in winter, is composed of 
deerskin, dressed as fine as chamois leather, in the hair. 
Their shoes and leggins are sewed together ; tlie latter 
reaching upwards to the waist, and kept firmly on by a 
belt ; under which a piece of leatiier is dra^\m, the ends 
of which fall down before and behind, as a covering. In 
the shoes, they put the hair of the moose or rein-deer, 
with additional pieces of leather, as socks. The shirt or 
coat, which is girded round the waist, reaches to the 
middle of the thigh ; and the mittens or gloves are sewed 
to the sleeves, or suspended from the shoulders by strings. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 79 

A ruff or tippet surrounds the neck ; and the skin of the 
head of the deer forms a curious kind of cap. Tiicn there 
is a top garment made of several deer or fawn skins 
sewed together. Tliis dress is worn single or double, 
according to circumstances ; but always in winter with 
hair both inside and outside. Thus arrayed, a Chipe- 
wyan will lay himself down on the ice in the middle of a 
lake, and repose in comfort ; though in the morning he 
will sometimes find it difficult to disencumber himself 
from the snow drifted on him during the night. If, in 
his passage over the lake, he should be in want of provi- 
sion, he cuts a hole in the ice, when he seldom fails in 
taking out a trout or a pike. The eyes he instantly 
takes out, and eats as a great delicacy : and if he have 
not an opportunity of kindling a fire, he will eat the fish 
raw. 

The dress of the women is different. Their leggins 
are tied below the knee ; and their body dress or shift is 
wide, and hanging down to the ankle ; and is tucked up 
at pleasure, by means of a belt which is fastened round 
the waist. Those who have children, have these gar- 
ments made very full about the breast and shoulders ; as, 
when they arc travelling, they carry their infants on their 
backs, next the skin ; in which situation they are very 
comfortable. They are also very curious about their 
baby.clothes, decorating them with porcupines' quills, 
and beads. Though they are in such a state of submis- 
sion, yet they possess considerable influence with the 
men ; and are generally consulted about the traffic with 
Europeans, and other important matters. 

From the ease with which they can supply their wants, 
in taking deer and fish, they are not remarkable for their 
activity as hunters : hence they participate in those labo- 
rious and domestic occupations that, among the Knistc- 
neaux, and other neighbouring nations, are confined to 
the women. Though the}'^ make war on the Esquimaux, 
(who cannot resist their superior numbers,) and put them 



80 OREGON TERRITORY. 

to death — as it is a principle of theirs not to make pri- 
soners — yet they submit to the Knisteneaux, who are not 
so numerous as themselves. They are not so reserved in 
tlieir communications among themselves, or Avith stran- 
gers ; nor are they suddenly roused from torpor to such 
energy and passion as the Knisteneaux. They are more 
uniform, calculating, and persevering than these people. 

They catch the beaver in nets, as he endeavours to 
escape from his lodge, when it is broken open. These 
nets are curiously set for the purpose ; and a man is em. 
ployed to watch the moment when the animal enters the 
snare, else he would soon cut his way through it : he is 
then thrown on the ice, where he remains, as if lifeless. 

Their snow-shoes are of superior workmanship. The 
inner part of their frame is straight ; the outer one is 
curved, and is pointed at both ends, the front end being 
turned up. They are also very neatly laced with deer- 
skin thongs. Tlieir sledges are also formed of thin slips 
of boards turned up in front ; and are highly polished, 
with crooked knives, in order to make them slide along 
with greater facility. Close-grained wood is, on that ac- 
count, the best : but theirs are made of the red, or swamp, 
spruce fir tree. 

Though they have no regular government, as every 
man is lord of his own family, yet they have certain 
principles of co-operation for the public benefit. Their 
country, especially along the north, is very barren, yield- 
ing but little wood or herbage. Its chief vegetable sub- 
stance is the moss, on which the deer feed ; and a kind 
of rock moss, which, in times of scarcity, when boiled in 
water, forms a glutinous substance, and affords subsis- 
tcnce to the natives. But though the lakes abound with 
fisli, and the hills with deer ; and though they are con- 
sidered among the most provident of all the Indian people 
of the nortliern continent, they suffer severely at certain 
seasons, especially in winter, when they are under the 
necessity of retiring to their scanty, stunted, woods. 



OP.EGOX TERIIITORY. 81 

To the westward of tlicm, the musk ox may be found ; 
but they do not depend on it as an article of sustenance. 
There are also large hares, white wolves peculiar to their 
country, and several kinds of foxes. On the surface of 
the earth there are found beautiful pieces of varicg-atcd 
marble, which is easily worked, bears a tine polish, and 
hardens with time. It endures heat, and is manufactured 
into pipes or calumets, as they arc fond of smoking to- 
bacco — a luxury communicated to them by Europeans. 

They have no knowledge of simples, or the medicinal 
virtues of plants ; as their country is too barren to pro- 
duce any : but they g-eneraliy resort to charms to cure 
their diseases ; of which rheumatism, the flux, and lues 
venerea, are the principal. They are very superstitious ; 
and have tlieir priests and conjurors ; but they are un- 
willing- to make many communications on the subject of 
their religion. They show their respect for the memory 
of their departed friends by a long period of mourning ; 
by cutting off their own hair ; and never making use of 
tlie propert}'^ of the deceased : they even sacrifice their 
own on the occasion. 



CHAPTER X. 

Moulh of the Columbia — Description of the native tribes — 
Their appearance — Habits. 

The first object that meets the eye of a voyager as he 
approaches the mouth of the Columbia from the Pacific, 
is a high bluff promontory with precipitous sides, covered 
with pine trees, and sloping to the mainland, with which 
it is connected by a low^ and narrow neck. This is called 
Cape Disappointment, and stands on the north of the 
river. The entrance on the south side of the river is ter- 
minated by a low, sandy spit of land, stretching into the 
ocean, and called Point Adams ; but, properly speaking, 



82 OREGON TERRITORY. 

for the distance of thirty or forty miles from its entrance 
into the sea, it is an estuary, indented by deep bays, so 
as to vary from three to seven miles in breadth. The 
distance between the extreme outer ends of Cape Disap- 
pointment and Point Adams is about four miles across. 
This distance is rendered very dangerous and intricate 
by shoals, forming- a sort of flat bar, on which the winds 
and irregular currents produce foaming and tumultuous 
breakers, presenting one line of heavy broken water from 
shore to shore, which, in rough weather, runs out for 
three miles into the ocean. But the mouth of the river 
proper becomes narrower, in consequence of the contract- 
ing shores of the estuary. The best leading mark for 
entrance is to bring a projecting point, which looks at a 
distance like an island, near the higher and northern 
shore, to bear by compass about east by north, and then 
to steer for it. But it is dangerous to make any attempt 
when the breakers are high. Immediately within Cape 
Disappointment there is a \vide open bay which yields 
good anchorage, and is called Baker's Bay, terminating 
at Chinook Point. 

About fourteen miles from Cape Disappointment, in 
a southeasterly direction, stands Fort George, on the 
southern shore, and on an elevation facing the north, 
terminating with the wide estuary — its sand-bars, and 
breakers. It was formerly called Astoria, having been 
founded by Mr. Astor, of whose proceedings I shall 
speak more hereafter ; but it is now only a small outer 
depot, belonging to the Company's head.quarters at Fort 
Vancouver, and kept up for the convenience of the trade 
with the Indians towards the mouth of the river; and for 
the salmon fishery. It is now sadly stripped of much of 
its former importance ; the immediate neighbourhood, 
with the exception of a small garden and farm reserved 
for the use of the small garrison stationed there, being 
overrun with weeds and brushwood. There however 
still exists one memorial of its former promised impor- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 83 

tance — for real importance it never had, — a large tree, 
spoken of by some writers, lying-, as a symbol of the 
decline of American power, flat and withered on the 
ground. 

The natives, who dwell about the lower parts of the 
Columbia, may be divided into four tribes — the Clotsops, 
who reside around Point Adams, on tlie south side, and 
are reputed by some the most honest — the Chinooks ; 
Waakiacums ; and the Cathlamets ; who live on the north 
side of the river, and around Baker's Bay and other in- 
lets. From the great resemblance between them in 
person, language, laws, and manners, they all appear to 
have emanated from one common stock. Though they 
occasionally can procure the flesh of elks, deer, and tlie 
water-fowls of the ponds and rivers, their chief subsis- 
tence is fish, chiefly salmon, which abounds in the river, 
and inlets ; and roots, and berries, which the women go 
a gipsying in groups at the proper season to collect in 
the upper part of the country. This season is a time of 
hilarity ; and the women bepaint their faces and persons 
with a sort of vermilion paint, partly to protect them 
from the sun, and partly to present a gay and fantastic 
appearance. These roots and berries they make into 
cakes, which they dry in the sun. These cakes, and 
preserved fish, with an accompaniment of venison, form 
their winter store, of which they generally have no lack. 

These tribes were formerly very numerous and power- 
ful. But they were greatly thinned by the scourge that 
spread its havoc far and wide among the northern and 
eastern Indians for many years — the small- pox. After 
having enjoyed a considerable respite from this visitation, 
and recruited their force and numbers to some extent, 
they were again, in 1829, and some subsequent years, 
attacked by another malady, equally fatal — fever, at- 
tended with ague. The strong remedies which they 
adopted for the cure of this, in opposition to all remon- 
strance, were nearly as destructive as the malady itself. 



84 OREGON TERRITORY. 

They dug a hole in the ground, five feet square, two feet 
deep below the surface, and raised two feet and a half 
above it. On the inside it was tightly boarded, and made 
a sort of compact oven, with a small aperture barely suf- 
ficient to admit the insinuation of the body. A number 
of stones red-hot were thrown in, and the patient (some- 
times two or three at a time) immediately after crawled 
in ; and from a bowl poured on the burning stones a 
quantity of water supplied from the outside, sufficient to 
produce a high degree of steam. Having remained there 
until he was nearly parboiled, he crept out again ; and, 
as it was imagined that a violent counter-remedy would 
produce a wholesome reaction, he plunged at once into 
the cold stream, on the bank of which this hot vapour- 
bath was constructed. 7"'he remedy generally did its in- 
tended work ; and something more ; it cured the disease, 
but killed the patient. 

As the first visitation of the small-pox aflTected them 
peculiarly, it may not be out of place here to say a word 
about it. 

This terrible scourge, which not only thinned this po- 
pulation, but had nearly dispeopled the whole of the 
northern continent of the native inhabitants, it is now 
generally agreed, was first introduced by the Americans 
of the United States ; and at first broke out among the 
tribes residing between the sources of the Missouri and 
the ^Mississippi. Thence it spread its devastation north- 
ward as far as Athabasca, and the three horns of the 
great Slave Lake ; and westward across the Rocky Moun- 
tains tlirough the whole region of the Oregon territories, 
spreading to a vast distance along the shores of the north 
Pacific. They at first tried their medicine-men, or con- 
jurors ; then, when their medicines and charms were 
found unavailing, they adopted various expedients, whicli 
were as fatal as the disease itself; such as bleeding — blis- 
tering — steam and cold baths in quick succession. Then, 
when tliey failed in every attempt at cure, they became 



OREGON TERRITORY. 85 

desperate, and impressed with the belief that it was a vi- 
sitation from the Great Spirit, v.'ho surrendered them up 
to the Evil One, as a punishment for their wicked courses. 
The wretched sufferers were deserted, and left to rot and 
perish, unaided and unpitied. The more hardened and 
courageous of those who escaped the attack fled to the 
desert-plains, or the mountains, or the islands of the 
lakes. Others, more desponding-, committed suicide, to 
save themselves from the horrors which they saw the suf- 
ferers endure. The bodies of hundreds of men, women, 
and children used to be seen, afterwards, suspended from 
the trees, close by depopulated villages, whilst the ground 
was strewed with putrid and mouldering remains. Num- 
bers of tribes were totally swept away ; or reduced to a 
few scattered and powerless individuals. The remnants 
of many others united ; and formed a new and heteroge- 
neous union. 

Whenever a person is attacked with sickness, the medi- 
cine-man is sent for ; he orders the patient to be placed 
on his back, and then commences to chaunt a dismal air. 
To this the patient's friends, who surround him, at inter- 
vals reply in chorus ; and beat time with a long and short 
stick, which eacli carries in his hands, striking one over 
the other. Generally a person is stationed on the roof 
during this proceeding, and, with a loud voice, joins the 
chorus inside ; while he keeps time to the air by beating 
his drum-sticks against the roof. The doctor then kneels, 
and presses his fists with all his force on the patient's 
stomach ; and, according as the sufferer, under the pain 
of this operation, cries out, the doctor and the bystanders 
raise the chaunt louder to drown his voice, and banish 
the disease within him which is struggling to depart. 
The doctor having, during the patient's agony, slyly in- 
serted a small white stone into his mouth, he seizes his 
liands which he joins together, and keeps blowing on 
them. Thus he continues pressing and blowing until the 
stone is forced out by the sick man's convulsive efforts. 
8 



86 OREGON TERRITORY. 

This he snatches up, and triumphantly produces to the 
bystanders as the source of the disease, which he assures 
them is now destroyed. The stone is sometimes enclosed 
in a piece of cedar bark, and thrown into the fire. The 
severe liard-pressing and pummelling- which the patient 
is obliged to undergo necessarily produces a considerable 
change in a short time ; and though death not unfre- 
quently follows, yet the general potency of such a mode 
of treatment is a matter of general belief. 

But the white doctor has of late made great inroads on 
the province of the conjuror, or medicine-man ; much of 
whose occupation is now transferred to the dispensary or 
the hospital of Fort Vancouver, where a single dose of 
medicine, or a little phlebotomy, has speedily exorcised • 
the " foul fiend" of the disease. Indeed, many of the 
customs of these people are fast fading away in their in- 
creasing intercourse with civilized men. 

On the death of one of these people, the body was 
formerly wrapped in skins or mats, and disposed in a 
small canoe (now they sell the skins and use blankets) ; 
the deceased's arms, and other articles of general use, 
being laid beside him. The canoe is then placed on a 
platform by the river-side, or on rocks out of the reach of 
the tide ; and other mats tied over it. Sometimes these 
sepulchral canoes are suspended from boughs of trees, 
six or eight feet from the ground. The canoe in which 
the body is placed is perforated at the bottom, for the 
twofold purpose, of letting out the water that the rains 
may have deposited in it, and of preventing it from ever 
being used again by the living. When his friends can 
afford the expense, a larger canoe, reversed, is placed 
over the lower, to protect it from the rain ; and both are 
firmly tied together. This is his grave. His wives, re- 
lations, and slaves go into mourning by cutting their 
hair ; and for some time after his death repair twice a 
day, at sunrise, and sunset, to a neighbouring wood, to 
chaunt his funeral dirge. Formerly, on the death of a 



OREGON TERRITORY. 87 

chief, or other person of wealth and importance, one or 
more of his slaves (much of an Indian's importance de- 
pending on the number of his slaves) was put to death 
for his use in the next world. But this barbarous super- 
stition has been abolished throug-h the interposition of 
the Company. The present governor. Dr. M'Laughlin, 
has for this purpose, as well as for many others in which 
humanity, and the civilization of the natives, are con- 
cerned, made great exertions. 

The salmon season, of those tribes towards the mouth 
of the Columbia, commences in June : and its open- 
ing is an epoch looked forward to with much anxiety, 
and is attended with great formality. They have a 
public festival, and offer sacrifices. The first salmon 
caught is a consecrated thing ; and is offered to the 
munificent Spirit who is the giver of plenty. They have 
a superstitious scruple about the mode of cutting salmon; 
especially at the commencement of the season, before 
they have an assurance of a plentiful supply. To cut it 
crosswise, and to cast the heart into the water, they con- 
sider most unlucky, and likely to bring on a scarce season. 
Hence they are very reluctant to supply the traders at 
the stations with any until the season is advanced, and 
then they can calculate on their probable stock ; lest an 
unlucky cross cut by the white men may mar all their 
prospects. Their mode is to cut it along the back ; they 
take out the back bone, and most studiously avoid throw- 
ing the heart into the water. The heart they broil and 
eat ; but will not eat it after sunset. So plentiful is the 
fish, that they supply the white men with it in abundance. 
It is now made a lucrative article of foreign trade. In- 
deed large quantities of it are sent to the Sandwich 
Islands, and other places. 

Their canoes vary in size and form. Some are thirty 
feet long, and about three feet deep, cut out of a single 
tree — either fir or white cedar — and capable of carrying 
twenty persons. They have round thwart pieces from 



88 OREGON TERRITORY. 

side to side, forming a sort of binders, about three inches 
in circumference ; and their gunwales incline outwards, 
so as to cast off the surge ; the bow and stern being 
decorated, sometimes, with grotesque figures of men and 
animals. In managing their canoes, they kneel two and 
two along the bottom, sitting on their heels, and wielding 
paddles about five feet long ; while one sits on the stern 
and steers, with a paddle of the same kind. The women 
are equally expert in the management of the canoe, and 
generally take the helm. It is surprising to see with 
what fearless unconcern these savages venture in their 
slight barks on the most tempestuous seas. They seem 
to ride upon the waves like sea-fowl. Should a surge 
throw the canoe upon one side and endanger its overturn, 
those to windw^ard lean over the upper gunwale — thrust 
their paddles deep into the wave — apparently catch the 
W'ater, and force it under the canoe ; and by this action, 
not merely regain an equilibrium, but give the vessel a 
vigorous impulse forward. 

They are rather a diminutive race, generally varying 
in height from five feet to five feet five inches ; the women 
being about six inches shorter. Their legs are generally 
crooked; their ankles thick; and their feet flat — a de- 
formity caused, no doubt, by their passing so much of 
their time in childhood, squatting on the calves of their 
legs and their heels, in the bottom of their canoes — a 
favourite position, which they retain even when on shore. 
The women increase this deformity by wearing tight 
bandages round the lower part of their legs. The faces 
of both sexes are round — their eyes small and sharp — 
their noses broad, flat at the top, and thick at the end — 
their nostrils large — their mouths wide — their lips thick 
— their teeth short, irregular, and dirty. In addition to 
these characteristics, the women have their ears slit — the 
cartilages of their noses perforated — and their heads and 
bodies saturated with salmon oil. They are inferior in 



OREGON TERRITORY. 89 

muscular power and activity to the Indians of the plains, 
who liunt the deer and buffalo, and ride on horseback. 

In their early intercourse with the whites, they were 
but scantily clad ; the men being entirely naked in 
summer ; but in winter wearing a small robe made of the 
skins of animals, and reaching to the middle of the 
thigh ; and sometimes superadding a mantle made of 
matting, which loosely covered the shoulders. The 
women wore a similar robe, which reached only to the 
waist ; to which was appended a kind of petticoat, reach- 
ing from the waist to the knee — formed of the fibres of 
cedar bark broken into shreds, or a tissue of silk-grass, 
twisted and knotted at the ends ; but in winter they 
added a vest of skins. The men carefully eradicated 
every vestige of a beard, considering it a great deformity. 
But both sexes allowed the hair of the head, which is 
coarse and black, and of w^hich they are very proud, to 
grow to great length ; sometimes wearing it plaited — 
sometimes wound round the head in fanciful tresses. 
They had conical hats, with narrow rims, woven of bear- 
grass, or the fibres of cedar bark ; and exhibiting, in 
different colours, various designs — such as representa- 
tions of canoes, men fishing, &c. They also wore or- 
naments of bears' claws, elks' tusks, &c., as trophies of 
hunting exploits. But an intercourse with the white 
traders soon effected a change in the toilets of both sexes ; 
and they now array themselves in any article of dress, 
and use any ornament they can procure. 

According to the general custom of American savages, 
when employed in warlike expeditions, they painted their 
bodies and faces in the most grotesque and hideous 
manner. Their arms were bows and arrows ; spears ; 
and war-clubs two and a half feet long, and double-edged. 
Some wore a corslet formed of pieces of hard wood, laced 
together with bear-grass, so as to form a light coat of 
mail, pliant to the body ; and a light casque of cedar 
bark, leather, or bear-grass, sufiicient to protect the head 
8* 



90 OREGON TERRITORY. 

from ail arrow or a war-club. A more complete article 
of defensive armour was a buff jerkin or shirt, of great 
thickness, made of doublings of elk skin, and* reaching 
to the feet ; holes being left for the head and arms. This 
was perfectly arrow-proof; and was, besides, often be- 
lieved to be endowed witli charmed virtues, imparted by 
the priests or conjurors of the tribe. It may be observed, 
that their only offensive weapon is now the common gun. 

Their ideas of religion do not differ much from those 
of the natives of the interior. They believe in an om- 
nipotent and benevolent Spirit, the creator of all things. 
They represent him as assuming various shapes at plea- 
sure ; but generally give him the accompaniment of 
wings. Though he usually inliabits the sun, he occa- 
sionally wings his way through the ethereal regions, and 
sees all that is doing on earth : and thunders, tempests, 
and lightning, are the modes in which he exhibits his 
displeasure. To propitiate his favour, they offer to him, 
as sacrifices, the first-fruits of their hunting and fishing. 
They also believe in an evil spirit, who inhabits the fire, 
who is less powerful than the first, and is occasionally 
employed to do his services. Therefore they endeavour, 
in all their undertakings, to propitiate him by frequent 
offerings. 

They have a belief in a future state of rewards and 
punishments. Those who have well and faithfully dis- 
charged all the duties of this life, will go to a mild and 
happy region, teeming with all the comforts of existence; 
while those who pursue an opposite course, will be con. 
signed to a cold and dreary region, where bitter fruits 
and salt water will form their principal means of sub- 
sistence. They have also a tradition about the origin of 
mankind : they believe that man was originally created 
by the superior deity, but in an imperfect state, being 
rather a statue of flesh than a perfect being; but a second 
divinity, less powerful, in pity of his helpless condition, 



OREGON TERRITORY. 91 

opened his eyes ; gave him motion : and taught him ail 
the functions and the arts of life. 

They have tlieir priests or conjurors, or medicine-men, 
who are supposed to be in the confidence of the deities, 
and the expounders of their will. Each of these has his 
diminutive wooden idols, under some rude form of a 
quadruped, or bird, or fish, representing the spirits of the 
air and fire. These idols are hung round with amulets 
and native offerings, such as beavers' teeth, bears' and 
eagles' claws, &c 

I have seen the following account in print : but it is 
incumbent on me to say, that though I mixed very much 
with these tribes, and was acquainted with their customs, 
ceremoaies, and superstitions, I neither witnessed myself, 
nor heard of, sucii a custom existing among them. 

When any chief personage is dangerously ill, the priests 
are sent for, who bring their idols. They retire into a 
canoe, to hold a consultation, and if they do not agree as 
to the malady, or the mode of treatment, they settle the 
dispute by beating the idols against each other ; which- 
ever first loses a tooth or a claw, is considered as confuted. 
Though this mode of determining the right is not so for- 
midable as the practice of personal combat, or treading 
the red-hot ploughshare, once practised in Christian Eu- 
rope, yet it is considered equally efficacious in arriving 
at a satisfactory conviction, 

I am willing to believe that such a custom did exist, 
and was one of those which tlie growing intelligence of 
the natives, in consequence of their intercourse with 
civilized men, has tended to abolislL Indeed, I am the 
more inclined to this belief^ from my knowledge of the 
frauds still practised by these crafty conjurors on the cre- 
dulity of the natives. I will state an example. In times 
of pretended inspiration, and communion with the Great 
Spirit, they seize a fleshy part of the body, about the sto- 
mach and ribs, in one hand, and plunge a dagger right 
through the fold, without drawing blood. TJjis act is 



92 OREGON TERHITORV. 

taken as a proof of tlieir invuhierability — a favour grant- 
ed by the Great Spirit. I have seen some of them thus 
gashed all over the front of the body. While I was 
in charge of Fort George, one of these crafty old priests 
prepared to pcribrm this operation in my presence. He 
grasped a handful of his flabby flesh, and drew his dag- 
ger. But I instantly cheeked him ; as my acquiescence 
would be tortured by him to the natives, into my belief 
that he was under divine protection. Besides, I was re- 
sponsible for the execution of instructions from head- 
quarters, to discourage in every way the superstitious 
and barbarous practices of the people, and the impostures 
of the priests. I observed that they avoided those parts 
where they may have a chance of striliing through an 
artery. 

There prevails a singular custom among all the tribes 
about the lower part of the Columbia — the flattening of 
the forehead, and compression of the whole head ; which 
gives them a hideous appearance. Immediately after 
birth the infant is laid in an oblong wooden trough, by 
way of cradle, with moss under it. The end on which 
the head reposes is raised higher than the rest. A pad- 
ding is then placed on the infant's forehead with a piece 
of cedar bark over it ; it is pressed down by cords, which 
pass through holes on each side of the trough. As fhe 
tightening of the padding, and the pressing of the head 
to the board, is gradual, the process is said not to be at- 
tended with much pain. 

The appearance of the infant, however, while under it, 
is shocking : its little black eyes seem ready to start from 
their sockets — the mouth exhibits all the indications of 
internal convulsion ; and it clearly appears that the face 
is gradually undergoing a process of unnatural configu- 
ration. About a year*s pressure is sufficient to produce 
the desired effect. The head is ever after completely 
flattened ; and the upper part of it, on the crown, seldom 
exceeds an inch in width. This is deemed a mark of 



OREGON TEHRITORY. 93 

beauty and distinction, like small and crippled feet among 
the Chinese ladies of rank. 

All their slaves, whom they purchase from the neigh- 
bouring tribes, have round heads. Every child of a slave, 
if not adopted by a member of the tribe, must be left to 
nature, and therefore grow up with a round head. This 
deformity is, consequently, a mark of their freedom. On 
examining the skulls of these people several medical men 
have declared, that nothing, short of ocular demonstra- 
tion, could have convinced them of the possibility of 
moulding the human head into such a form. 

Though the Indians about the head-waters of the Co- 
lumbia, and in the other regions bordering on the Rocky 
Mountains, are called " Flat Heads," the name does not 
result from such a characteristic deformity, for all these 
people have round heads ; but appears to have been ori- 
ginally given them from caprice, or from an observance 
of some similarity in disposition or habit, between them 
and the savages of the coast at the mouth of the river. 
The best supported opinion is, that they were of the same 
original stock with the lower tribes, but discontinued the 
custom. 

They have a great variety of games, which they pur- 
sue often with such ardour, that they would gamble aw^ay 
every thing they {wssess — even their wives and children. 
One of their usual games is this : One man takes a sm?JA 
stone, which he shifts from hand to hand repeatedly, ail 
the wliile humming a low monotonous air. The bet 
being made, according as the adversary succeeds in 
grasping the hand which contains the stone, he wins or 
loses. The game is generall}'- played with great fairness ; 
and the loser submits with the most philosophical resig- 
nation. They are also consummate thieves, and proud 
of their dexterity. He who is frequently successful gains 
applause and popularity; but the clumsy thief, who is 
detected, is scoffed at and despised. 

So we find among the modern savages, on the shores 



94 OREGON TERRITORY. 

of the Pacific, the same passion for gambling- which, 
Tacitus says, existed among the aboriginal Germans ; 
and the same merit attached to dexterous and successful 
stealing which existed among the ancient Spartans. Like 
the Spartans, too, they considered drunkenness a great 
degradation, — a vice fit only for slaves. On one occasion 
the son of Comcomly, chief of the Chinooks, was induced 
to drink at the factory until he became intoxicated. He 
then played the most extravagant pranks. He was sent 
home in that state : and the old chief went to the factory 
in a state of high rage, and reproached the people there 
for having degraded his son, and exposed him to the 
laughter and contempt of his slaves. But, however, they 
deem it, in general, no degradation now to get drunk, 
when they can. 

This noted chief, Comcomly, was buried with great 
ceremony, in a canoe near Fort George, in 1831. His 
body was afterwards taken out of the canoe, for greater 
security, by his relations, and placed in a long box, in a 
lonely part of tlie woods. But the precaution was idle. 
His head is now in the possession of some eminent phy- 
sician in Edinburgh ; and, strange to say, although he 
had been buried about five years, his skin was quite dry, 
and not decayed. It required a very sharp knife to pene- 
trate the skin ; and his hair was still on his head. 

Marriage among them is a matter for previous nego- 
tiation, and attended with solemnity. When a young 
man has made his choice, and obtained consent, the pa- 
rents, or other natural guardians of the girl, are next to 
be consulted. These are to receive a certain quantity of 
presents, — slaves, axes, kettles, trinkets, &c. When the 
amount is agreed on, they repair to the house intended 
for the young couple, to which the most respectable in- 
habitants of the village are invited. The young man, 
having distributed the presents, receives, in the style of 
the heroes of the Homeric age, an equal, often a greater 
number, of presents from the girl's relations. Then the 



OREGON TERRITORY. 95 

bride, decorated with various ornaments, is led forth by 
a few old women, and presented to the bridegroom, who 
receives her as his wife. The company, atler partaking 
of hospitality, and wishing- the young couple every hap- 
piness — a numerous progeny, aljundance, and peace, re- 
tire. Though the union is generally lasting, it is not in- 
dissoluble ; as a man may, for infidelity, repudiate his 
wife ; who is, after that, at liberty to take another hus- 
band. Polygamy is not only allowed, but is a mark of 
distinction. The greater the number of wives a man 
can maintain the higher is he esteemed. In fact, the 
respectability and influence of the chief depends on the 
number of wives, slaves, and other property which he 
possesses ; and his election to the office mainly depends 
on this qualification. Though the wives generally live 
in harmony together, the first wife takes precedence of 
all the others, and is considered as mistress of the house. 

They regulate the prices of their articles by haiqua, 
which is a milk-white round shell of extreme hardness, 
found in the neighbourhood of Nootka Sound. It varies 
in length from one to four inches, and is about half an 
inch thick — hollow^, slightly curved, and tapering a little 
towards the ends. It is highly estimated, the longest 
being the most valuable. 

It resembles the top shank of a common clay smoking- 
pipe. They are valued in proportion to the number that, 
when ranged on a string, passing through their hollow 
tubes, extend a fathom's length. Forty to the fathom, is 
supposed to be the fixed standard of excellence and worth: 
for instance, forty which make a fathom are worth nearly 
double fifty which make a fathom. There extreme fra- 
gility, lightness, tenuity, and delicacy of colour, are what 
appear to give them their importance. They are thus 
caught in Nootka Sound, and along Vancouver's Island ; 
— a piece of deer flesh, or of fish, is dropped from a line 
to the bottom : this they cling to ; and they are then 
drawn up, and carefully gutted and preserved. 



96 OREGON TERRITORV. 

Sturgeon fishing. — Sturgeon are caught by the Chi- 
nooks in the following manner. To the line — which is 
made from the twisted roots of trees — is attached a large 
hook, made of hard wood. This is lowered some twenty 
feet below the surface of the water. The canoes are not 
more than ten feet long ; manned by never more than 
two, sometimes only by one; and slowly drift down the 
river with the current. When the sturgeon bites, and 
they have him fast, the line is hauled up gently until 
they get his head to the water's edge. He then receives 
a blow from a lieavy wooden mallet, which kills him. 
The gunwale of the canoe is lowered to the verge of the 
w^ater ; and the sturgeon, though weighing upwards of 
thiiee hundred pounds, is, by the single effort of one In- 
dian, jerked into the boat. 

A few months since, I saw a paragraph in most of the 
largely circulated papers, stating that a sturgeon weigh- 
ing three or four hundred pounds had been caught in the 
river Thames ; and that a host of people, amounting to 
two or three hundred, were employed in killing this fish. 
I thought that the old saying, of nine tailors making a 
man, was exceeded in this case ; as it appears that it 
took three hundred Englishmen to make one Chinook 
sturgeon-catcher. 

Their liouses are constructed of wood, and vary in 
length from twenty to seventy feet, and in breadth from 
fifteen to twenty-five feet. Two or more posts of split 
timber, according to the number of partitions, are sunk 
firmly into the ground, and rise upwards to the height of 
fi.fteen or eighteen feet. They are grooved at the top so 
as to receive the ends of a round beam or pole, stretching 
from one end to the otlier, and forming the upper point of 
the roof, from one end of the building to the other. On 
each side of this range is placed another row much lower, 
being about five feet high, which forms tlie eaves of the 
house. But as the building is often sunk to the depth of 
four or five feet in the ground, the eaves come very near 



oukgon territory. 97 

the surface of tlie earth. Smaller pieces of timber are 
then extended, by pairs, in the form of rafters from the 
lower to the higher beam, and are fastened at both ends 
by cords of cedar bark. On these rafters two or three 
ranges of small poles are placed horizontally, and in the 
same way fastened with similar cords. The sides are 
then made, with a range of wide boards sunk a small 
distance into the ground, with the upper ends projecting 
above the poles of the eaves, to which they are secured 
by a beam passing outside, parallel with the eave poles, 
and tied by cords of cedar bark passing through the 
holes made in the boards at certain distances. The gable- 
ends and partitions are formed in the same way ; being 
fastened by beams on the outside, parallel with the rafters. 
The roof is then covered with a double range of thin 
boards, excepting a space of two or three feet in the 
centre, which serves for a chimney. The entrance is by 
a hole cut through the boards, and just large enough to 
admit the body. 

The largest houses are divided by partitions; and 
three or four families may be found residing in a one- 
roomed house. In the centre of each room is a space, 
six or eight feet square, sunk to the depth of twelve 
inches below the rest of the floor, and enclosed by four 
pieces of square timber ; here they make the fire, which 
is of wood and pine bark. The partitions in the houses 
are intended to separate different families. Around the 
fire-place mats are spread, and serve as seats by day, and 
frequently as beds at night : there is, however, a more 
permanent bed made, by fixing in two, or sometimes 
three, sides of a room, posts reaching from the roof to the 
floor, and at the distance of four feet from the wall. 
From these posts to the wall one or two ranges of boards 
are placed, so as to form shelves, on which they either 
sleep or stow their various articles of merchandise. In 
short, they are like berths in a ship. The uncured fish 
is hung in the smoke of their fires ; as is also the fles 
9 



98 OREGON TERRITORY. 

of the elk when they are fortunate enough to procure 
any. 

Their culinary articles consist of a large square kettle, 
made of cedar wood, a few platters, and spoons made of 
ash. Their mode of cooking is expeditious. Having put 
a quantity of water into the kettle, they throw into it 
several hot stones, which quickly cause the water to boil; 
then the fish or flesh is put in ; the steam is kept from 
evaporating by a small mat thrown over the kettle. By 
this mode a large salmon would be boiled in twenty 
minutes, and meat in a proportionably short space of 
time. They occasionally roast their fish and flesh on 
small wooden skewers. 

For the felling and cutting of trees — sometimes from 
thirty to forty feet in circumference — for building their 
houses, and forming their canoes, they had not, previous 
to their intercourse with the whites, even an axe. For 
such immense work their only instruments consisted of a 
chisel, formed out of an old file ; a kind of oblong stone 
used as a hammer, and a mallet made of spruce-tree 
knot, well oiled and hardened by the action of the fire. 

They are very ingenious in the construction of their 
nets, which are made of a sort of wild hemp, sometimes 
called silk-grass, found on the upper borders of the Co- 
lumbia; or of the fibres of the roots of trees ; or the inner 
ligaments of the bark of the white cedar. These nets 
are of different kinds, for the different kinds of fishery — 
the straight net for the larger fish in deep water ; and 
the scooping or dipping-net for the smaller fish in the 
shallower waters. They also use a curious sort of many- 
pronged spear, for drawing up small fish. This is a pole 
set all round with numerous short wooden little spikes. 
This they work along against the current from the canoe, 
and against the small fish, that swim onwards in dense 
masses. At every take-up of this spear, which is done 
in quick succession, it is found filled with fishes impaled 
on those sharp spikes. In their nets they use stones in 



OREGON TERRITORY. 99 

place of lead ; and tlieir superior usefulness and adapta- 
tion to the fishery of the Columbia, over the nets of the 
civilized white, may be shown from the following fact. 

A Mr. Wyeth, of Boston, having heard much of the 
salmon fishery in the Columbia, and thinking it would 
afford a profitable trading speculation, chartered a vessel, 
in 1835 ; and on his way took a number of the Sandwich 
Islanders as fishermen; supplying himself also with a 
cargo of fishing nets, and a great variety of other fishing 
apparatus, on the most approved principles. On arriving 
at the Columbia he set vigorously to work, dead sure of 
making a fortune. But his nets were totally unfit for the 
occupation ; and his exotic fishermen, notoriously fami- 
liar as they are with the watery element, were no match 
for the natives, pursuing their natural occupation in 
almost their indigenous element, and so familiar with the 
seasons, the currents, the localities, and all the manj"^ 
other circumstances that insure success. He set up for 
a fur trader as well, and imagined that he would make 
up his loss in competition against the savages by his 
successful competition against the Company. But his 
trappers were not more successful than his fishermen ; 
although the Company afforded him every facility ; and, 
he was obliged to quit the country a disappointed adven- 
turer, having disposed of his goods and chattels to the 
Company, who, according to his own written statement, 
treated him with generosity. To this fact, which I now 
state, Mr. Washington Irving bears honourable testimony. 



100 OREGON TERRITORY. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Fort V^ancouver — its farm establishment. 

Fort Vancouver is the head-quarters, establishment, 
or grand depot of the Company, west of the Rocky 
Movmtains. It is situated near Point Vancouver (so 
called from the celebrated English navigator and dis- 
coverer in those seas) on the northwest of the Columbia, 
on a large, level plain, about a quarter of a mile from the 
shore, and ninety miles from the Pacific. The river in 
front of it is seventeen hundred yards wide, and six 
fathoms deep. The whole country round is covered with 
noble woods, consisting of many kinds of valuable timber ; 
such as cedar, pine, &c., interspersed with open and 
fertile spaces. It was founded in 1824, by Governor 
Simpson ; as the locality was more convenient for trade 
— had a larger and richer tract of land for cultivation — 
and afforded a more convenient landing-place for cargoes 
from the ships, than the former dep6t — Fort George (or 
Astoria) — which lay near the mouth of the river. 

Fort Vancouver is then the grand mart and rendezvous 
for the Company's trade and servants on the Pacific. 
Thither all the furs and other articles of trade collected 
west of the Rocky Mountains, from California to the Rus- 
sian territories, are brought from the several other forts 
and stations : and from thence they are shipped to Eng- 
land. Thither too all the goods brought from England 
for traffic — the various articles in woollens and cottons — 
in grocery — in hardware — ready-made clothes — oils and 
paints — ship stores, &:c., are landed ; and from thence 
they are distributed to the various posts of the interior, 



OREGON TERRITORY. 101 

and along the northern shores by sailing vessels, or by- 
boat, or pack-horses, as the several routes permit, for 
distribution and traffic among the natives, or for the 
supply of the Company's servants. In a word. Fort 
Vancouver is the grand emporium of the Company's 
trade, west of the Rocky Mountains ; as well within the 
Oregon Territory as beyond it, from California to Kamt- 
schatka. 

The present governor is Dr. John M'Loughlin. He is 
described by American writers, whom he entertained in 
his usual style, as a portly, dignified-looking man, almost 
six feet high, with a florid complexion — gray hair — large 
blue eyes — an open and benevolent expression of counte- 
nance — bland and courteous manners — a generous and 
most hospitable disposition. This I know to be all true. 
He has been in the service of the Company from his 
youth, to hi»own credit and their great benefit. He has 
mounted up to his present high oflice — the highest — by 
his diligence, integrity, and skill. He is thoroughly 
familiar with the whole trade, in all its ramifications and 
minutiEe. He has contributed greatly to bring it to its 
present high state, and is making every effort to advance 
it farther. He was a very influential partner in the 
Northw^est Company, before its junction with the Hud- 
son's Bay Company. During his occasional absence his 
duties are discharged by his w-orthy deputy, J. Douglas, 
Esq. 

The fort is in the shape of a parallelogram, about two 
hundred and fift,y yards long by one hundred and fifty 
broad, enclosed by a sort of wooden wall, made of pickets, 
or large beams firmly fixed in the ground, and closely 
fitted together, twenty feet high, and strongly secured on 
the inside by buttresses. At each angle there is a 
bastion, mounting two twelve. pounders, and in the centre 
there are some eighteen-pounders ; but from the subdued 
and pacific character of the natives, and the long absence 
of all apprehension, these cannon have become useless. 
9* 



102 OREGON TERRITORY. 

The area within is divided into two courts, around which 
are arranged about forty neat, strong wooden buildings, 
one story high, designed for various purposes — such as 
offices, apartments for the clerks, and other officers — 
warehouses for furs, English goods, and other commodi- 
ties — workshops for the different mechanics ; carpenters, 
blacksmiths, coopers, wheelwrights, tinners, &cc. ; in all of 
which tlicrc is the most diligent and unceasing activity 
and industry. There is also a schoolhouse and chapel, 
and a powder magazine, built of brick and stone. 

In the centre stands the governor's residence, which is 
two stories high — the dining hall, and the public sitting- 
room. All the clerks and officers, including the chaplain 
and physician, dine together in the hall, the governor 
presiding. The dinner is of the most substantial kind, 
consisting of several courses. Wine is frequently allowed, 
but no spirituous liquors. After grace has llten said, the 
company break up. Then most of the party retire to the 
public sitting-room, called "Bachelor's Hall," or the 
smoking-room, to amuse themselves as they please, either 
in smoking, reading, or telling and listening to stories of 
their own, and others' curious adventures. Sometimes 
there is a great influx of company, consisting of the chief 
traders from the outposts, who arrive at the fort on 
business, and the commanders of vessels. These are 
gala times after dinner, and tliere is a great deal of 
amusement, but always kept under strict discipline, and 
regulated by the strictest propriety. There is, on no 
occasion, cause for ennui, or a lack of anecdote and 
interesting narrative, or indeed of any intellectual amuse- 
ment ; for if smoking and story-telling be irksome, then 
there is the horse ready to mount, and the rifle prepared. 
The voyageur and the trapper, who have traversed 
thousands of miles, through wild and unfrequented re. 
gions, and the mariner, who has circumnavigated the 
globe, may be found gi'ouped together, smoking, joking, 
singing, and story-telling, and in every way banishing 



OREGON TERRITORY. 103 

dull care, till the period of their again setting- out for 
their respective destinations arrive. 

The smoking- room, or " Bachelor's Hall," presents the 
appearance of an armoury and a museum. All sorts of 
weapons, and dresses, and curiosities of civilized and sa- 
vage life, and of the various implements for the prosecu- 
tion of the trade, may be seen there. 

Tiie mechanics, and other servants of the establish- 
ment, do not dine in the hall, or go to the smoking-room. 

The clerks, afler passing through many stages of trust 
and emolument, are promoted to the post of chief trader : 
after that to the post of chief factor ; then they ascend 
to become shareholders of the Company, and governors 
of forts. But all the gradations of promotion are, in 
general, dependent on skill, industry, and integrity. In- 
deed, throughout the various ramifications and degrees of 
til is vast, and wide-spread commercial association, there 
is less favouritism than could be expected, and less than 
in any other mercantile institution : almost all the pa- 
tronage of the Company is bestowed as the reward of 
merit, and long service. The precision, order, and regu- 
larity with which the various operations are carried on, 
together with the strict decorum and sobriety observed, 
are entitled to the highest commendation ; and excite the 
wonder of the Americans ! 

The school is for the benefit of the half-breed children 
of the officers and servants of the Company, and of many 
orphan children of Indians who have been in the Com- 
pany's employment. They are taught English (some- 
times French), writing, arithmetic, and geography ; and 
are subsequently either apprenticed to traders in Canada ; 
or kept in the Company's service. 

The front square is the place where the Indians and 
trappers deposit their furs, and other articles, and make 
their sales, &.c. There may be seen, too, great numbers 
of men sorting and packing the various goods ; and 
scores of Canadians beating and cleaning the furs from 



104 OREGON TERRITORY. 

the dust and vermin and coarse hairs, previous to expor- 
tation. 

Six hundred yards below the fort, and on the bank of 
the river, there is a neat village, of about sixty well-built 
wooden houses, generally constructed like those within 
the fort ; in which the mechanics, and other servants of 
the Company, who are in general Canadians and Scotch- 
men, reside with their families. They are built in rows, 
and present the appearance of small streets. They are 
kept in a clean and orderly manner. Here there is an 
hospital, in which the invalided servants of the Company, 
and, indeed, others who may wish to avail themselves of 
it, are treated with the utmost care. This is attended by 
Dr. Tolmic, the resident surgeon of the fort. 

Many of the officers of the Company marry half-breed 
women. These discharge the several duties of wife and 
mother with fidelity, cleverness, and attention. They 
are, in general, good housewives ; and are remarkably 
ingenious as needlewomen. Many of them, besides pos- 
sessing a knowledge of English, speak French correctly, 
and possess other accomplishment ; and they sometimes 
attend their husbands, on their distant and tedious jour- 
neys and voyages. These half-breed women are of a 
superior class ; being the daughters of chief traders and 
factors, and other persons high in the Company's service, 
by Indian women, of a superior descent or of superior 
personal attractions. Though they generally dress after 
the English fashion, according as they see it used by the 
English wives of the superior officers, yet they retain one 
peculiarity — the leggin or gaiter, which is made (now 
that the tanned deer-skin has been superseded) of the 
finest, and most gaudy-coloured cloth, beautifully orna- 
mented with beads. 

The lower classes of the Company's servants marry 
native women, from the tribes of the upper country ; 
where the women are round-headed, and beautiful. 
These, too, generally speaking, soon learn the art of use- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 105 

ful housewifery with great adroitness and readiness ; and 
they are encouraged and rewarded in every way by the 
Company, in their efforts to acquire domestic economy 
and comfort. These too, imitate, in costume, the dress of 
the officers' wives, as much as they can ; but from their 
necessities of position, which exposes them more to wet 
and drudgery, they retain the mocassin, in place of adopt- 
ing the low-quartered shoe. This is made of deer-skin, 
dressed under a peculiar process ; the most important of 
which is seasoning over warm smoke, by which the leather 
is rendered perfectly waterproof. These mocassins are 
so elastic that they can be drawn on like a stocking ; and 
so light that they serve the purposes of high shoe and 
stocking together. They are open partly down the front; 
one side lapping over the otlier ; and fastened with a long 
strip of the same leather — drawn upwards — passing two 
or three times round the leg. 

The half-breeds are a very well-featured race ; and the 
men are remarkably ingenious, athletic, and vigorous. 
In horsemanship they are singularly adroit. Nor is this 
to be wondered at ; for in fact tliey have been reared 
from their extremest youth to the management of the 
horse, accompanjnng their parents, generally, in their 
trapping journeys over the plains and hills on horseback. 
One of these practised half-breeds would receive applause 
from Alexander of Macedon himself, or the best tutored 
equestrian at Astley's. He would mount the wildest and 
most high-mettled Bucephalus of the plains — give him 
full play over level and rough — high and low — river and 
hill, until he brought him back as tame as a mouse. 

The cleverest fellow, of this school, I ever saw was 
Joseph M'Loughlin, a natural son of the present gover- 
nor, by a half-breed woman. He was a person of some 
little distinction from the accident of his birth, inde- 
pendently of his astonishing equestrian capabilities. In 
seeing his feats, when managing a wild stallion, that gal- 
loped and plunged to desperation, — clinging to the ani- 



106 OREGON TERRITORY. 

mal, as if he were an inseparable part of him — playfully 
tossing his bare head over the upreared head of the horse, 
while his breech clung to his back with the tenacity of 
wax ; and his heels seemed glued to his ribs ; with his 
hands fastened in the mane ; he completely explained to 
me the fabulous stories which I read in my boyhood of 
the Centaurs; for I at once saw that there was some 
ground for the old pictures of poets and painters, in draw- 
ing a compound animal — man and horse. 

The mode generally adopted in catching the wild 
horse is by the lasso, or noose rope. An experienced 
and well-mounted man, riding a practised horse, gallops 
up to a herd, holding his head as close to his horse's flow- 
ing mane as possible, for a disguise. Thus he is enabled 
to approach the herd. The herd, on seeing him fully, 
then scamper off, from an instinctive dread of danger. 
But he gallops on until he comes within effective range, 
and has taken his aim. He then lets fly his noose, which 
is at the end of a long rope, kept previously coiled up. 
This is discharged like a stone from a sling; and is 
thrown with such unerring precision, that the horse's 
neck is caught in the noose. He is at once prostrated. 
The rider dismounts and fetters him. He is soon after- 
wards tamed. Sometimes the horses are thus caught 
when roaming at large, in the wide and open plain ; but 
the more general custom now is for a number of horse- 
men to scare them into a kind of enclosed park, where 
the process of catching is rendered more easy and expe- 
ditious. Sometimes these ropes are made of the coarse, 
strong hemp of the country ; but generally of thongs 
from the tanned buffalo-hide, as this substance, from its 
superior weight, strength, and elasticity, is discharged 
from the hand with greater force, and effects its purpose 
with speedier and surer effect. 

Attached to the fort there is a magnificent farm, con- 
sisting of about three thousand acres ; of which about fif- 
teen hundred acres have been already brought to the 



OREGON TERRITORY. 107 

highest state of tillage. It stretches behind the fort, and 
on both sides, along the banks of the river. It is fenced 
into beautiful corn-fields — vegetable-fields — orchards — 
gardens — and pasture-fields, which are interspersed with 
dairy-houses, shepherds' and herdsmen's cottages. It is 
placed under the most judicious management: and neither 
expense nor labour has been spared to bring it to the 
most perfect cultivation. There is a large grist-mill, and 
a threshing-mill, which are worked by horse-power ; and 
a saw-mill worked by water-power. All kinds of grain 
and vegetables, and many species of fruits, are produced 
there in abundance and of superior quality. The grain 
crops are produced without manure ; and the wheat crop, 
especially, is represented by practical farmers to be won- 
derfiil. It must, however, be observed, that Indian corn 
does not thrive there so well as in other soils. But this 
is not considered as any matter for regret or loss. Me- 
Ions and grapes grow there remarkably well. But per- 
haps the greatest curiosity of all is to be seen in the 
dwarf apple-trees. These grow thickly, and are so loaded 
with fruit of the best quality, that it is necessary to prop 
up the branches to prevent them from breaking : the 
apples grow packed together, resembling onions fastened 
in rows on a string. The whole farm is in charge of a 
most experienced farmer, Mr. G. Allen, a Scotchman. 
There is also a principal gardener, Mr. Bruce, a Scotch- 
man. Mr. Allen having been placed as agent for the 
Company at the Sandwich Islands, Mr. George Roberts, 
whose skill and zeal pointed him out to the Company as 
one worthy of promotion and confidence, was selected as 
the fittest successor to Mr. Allen in his important post. 

Besides this farm, which they are every day extending, 
they have commenced farming on a large scale on the 
Cowilitze, to the north ; Umpqua, to the south ; and in 
other parts of the territory, where they have established 
posts, the produce of all which they use for exportation 
both to the Russian stations, in Kamtschatka (as they 



108 OREGON TERRITORY. 

entered into a contract with the Russians, in 1839, 
to supply their posts in those regions with provisions at 
fixed prices), and to the islands in the Southern Pacific ; 
and to British and American whalers, and to other mer- 
chant ships. 

They also keep scores of woodcutters, employed to fell 
timber, which is sawed up in large quantities — ^three 
thousand feet a day, and regularly shipped for the Sand- 
wich Islands, and other foreign parts. And as they can 
afford to sell the goods purchased in England under a 
contract of old standing, together with the productions of 
the territory and their own farms, — fish, beef, mutton, 
pork, timber, &c., at nearly half the American price, 
they are likely to engross the whole trade of the Pacific, 
as they do already the trade of the Oregon ; especially 
since they command all the ports and safe inlets of the 
country. This the Americans feel and declare ; and it is 
this that whets their cupidity, and excites their jealousy 
and hatred. 

Ttapping-Parties leaving Vancouver — These parties 
are some weeks preparing for the mountains and prairies. 
The blacksmiths are busily engaged making beaver-traps 
for the trappers — the storekeepers making up articles for 
trade, and equipping the men (as each of them takes 
from the store every requisite article), the clerk in charge 
of the provision-store (generally called, after the French, 
depance), packing up provisions for them, to last until 
they get into hunting-ground — the clerk in charge of the 
farm providing horses, and other requisite articles. 

The party generally consists of about fifty or sixty 
men — most of them tlie Company's servants — others, free 
hunters. The servants have a stated salary, while the 
freemen receive so much per skin. Previous to leaving 
the fort for their arduous adventure, they are allowed a 
small quantity of rum per man ; and they generally en- 
joy a grand holiday and feast the night previous to start- 
ing. Each man has a certain number of horses, sufficient 



OREGON TERRITORY. 109 

to carry his equipment. The free trappers gfenerally pro- 
vide their own animals. Both the Company's servants 
and the freemen frequently take their wives and families 
with them : the women are very useful on the expedi- 
tion, In preparing meals and other necessaries for their 
husbands during their absence from the camp. In sum- 
mer and winter, whether they have a sort of travelling 
camp or a fixed residence, they select the localities that 
most abound In fur-bearing animals. 

Though a party may be obliged, from a variety of cir- 
cumstances, to winter In the plains, or In the recesses of 
the mountains, on the borders of lakes or rivers, some 
numbers of It return to the fort at the fall., wath the pro- 
duce of the season's hunt, and report progress ; and re- 
turn to the camp with a reinforcement of necessary sup- 
plies. Thus the Company are enabled to acquire a minute 
knowledge of the country and the natives ; and extend 
their power and authority over both. 

Certain gentlemen of the Company have been appoint- 
ed, by act of Parliament, justices of the peace ; who are 
empowered to entertain prosecutions for minor offences, 
and to impose punishment — to arrest and send to Canada 
criminals of a higher order for trial ; and also to try, and 
give judgment in civil suits, where the amount in dispute 
does not exceed £200; and. In case of non-payment, to 
imprison the debtor, at their own forts, or in the jails of 
Canada. 

Mr. M'Kay, one of the principal officers in charge of 
the Hudson's Bay Company's trapping-party in the Snake 
country, Is a gentleman of great Intelligence and natural 
astuteness, and also of good feeling ; and Is quite as much 
at home in the prairies and wilderness as he Is in a fort. 
I recollect a story related by him, in " bachelors' hall." 
He was speaking of a son of a Mr. Bird, a gentleman 
some years ago in the service of the Company. This 
young Bird (and a wild bird he proved to be) received a 
fair education, and could converse In French and English. 
10 



110 OREGON TERRITORY. 

He was some time in the Company's service ; but, finding 
the work too hard for him, joined the Blackfeet Indians, 
and was made a chief; and he took several daughters of 
chiefs for his wives, and became a man of some note and 
respect. He received, amongst the trappers, the nick- 
name of Jemmy Jock. He had then been living with 
the Indians twenty years, and was much disliked by the 
American trapping-parties ; in fact, it has been said that 
the Americans did once offer five hundred dollars for his 
head, as they supposed he had been a leader amongst a 
tribe of Blackfeet when an American party was cut off 
by them. 

Mr. M'Kay said, he was once encamped in the plain, 
and imagined that the Blackfeet nmst be in the vicinity 
of the camp, by various marks. He accordingly, at night, 
gave strict orders to the Canadians on watch to keep a 
good look-out ; which they did, with rifle in hand. But 
this Jemmy Jock, dressed as a Canadian voyageur, ma- 
naged to enter the camp unobserved — walked up to the 
chief man on watch ; and, addressing him in Canadian- 
French, said that he had " received orders that the horses 
which were in the camp should be turned out to graze." 
The watchman, taking it for granted that the order came 
from M'Kay, ordered the horses to be let out. But before 
long the camp was roused by the loud whoop of the 
Blackfeet : some of the horses were mounted ; and others 
driven off before the marauding-party ; the poor trappers 
being left to make the best of their way through the 
plains as they could. Sometimes in travelling through 
the plains the Company's trappers fall in with a letter, 
tied to a stick, left by this humorous half-breed, to an- 
nounce that he has camped at this spot with his party a 
short time previous — sometimes giving them good in- 
formation ; and sometimes intending to mislead, and play 
them a frolicksome or mischievous trick. 

Rifle-shots. — It is generally a custom amongst first- 
rate rifle-shots, in the service, to have a favourite rifle. 



OREGON TERRITORV. Ill 

This rifle always being practised with, the)'' are sure to 
hit the mark. It is frequently seen, that, by a good 
rifleman, a duck's head is knocked off" at one hundred 
and twenty yards. This Mr. M'Kay is an excellent shot. 
He says that he generally shoots the bear in the mouth, 
to save the skin. During the leisure hours in the summer 
months, at the fort, after business hours, the officers often 
amuse themselves at rifle-shooting ; and at eighty yards, 
the bull's-eye is seldom missed : and once or twice a 
week, the riding horses are generally brought into the 
fort for the officers to recreate themselves with a ride. 

Here we had an old and favourite servant, who was 
cook, and whose name was Overy, a Canadian. He was 
never more happy than when he was able to play off" his 
pranks with any of the sailors, when a vessel lay in the 
river. At one time, on the arrival of a vessel from 
England, there was on board a curious, eccentric old 
boatswain, who had, previously to joining the Company's 
service, been on board a man-of-war. The cook and the 
boatswain became very familiar ; and the cook was in- 
vited on board the vessel to dine with the boatswain. 
The invitation was accepted ; and the compliment was 
returned on the Sunday following. Overy not knowing 
what to get good enough for his dear and hospitable 
friend, the boatswain, oethought him of a dog, which is 
a favourite dish amongst Canadian voyageurs. The old 
boatswain ate heartily of it, as did the cook. After he 
had done, the cook inquired how he had enjoyed his 
dinner : he said it was beautiful. He then asked him 
whether he knew what he had been dining on : he said 
he supposed from a goat. " Yes," says the cook, " you 
have been eating from a goat with von long tail, that 
don't like grass or heather." " How is that ?" inquired 
the boatswain. " Vy you sec," replied the cook, " it was 
my best dog you have dined from." The old boatswain 
stormed and swore ; and then ran, as fast as possible, to 
the vessel, to get a little rum to lay his stomach. He 



1 12 OREGON TERRITORY. 

vowed that he never again wished to dine with a Canadian 
cook, or eat pet dogs. 

In 1829, a beautiful brig — the William and Ann — sent 
from England for the Company's use — in entering the 
river, was driven on a shoal, between Cape Disappoint- 
ment and Point Adams. A report was given to the gen- 
tleman in charge of Fort George that a vessel was 
wrecked on tlie bar. A search was immediately made ; 
and it was found that the report was true. A boat was 
found driven on shore : and the stem had been cut as if 
by an axe. The body of the captain alone was found. 
The whole of the crew perished ; and it was generally 
supposed that some of them had got on shore, but were 
destro3'ed by the Clatsop Indians, in whose possession 
were found numerous articles which had drifted on shore. 
In fact, they had a great quantity of the cargo, with 
several puncheons of rum, buried under the sands on the 
beach. The governor of Fort Vancouver sent down an 
interpreter, and several men, to endeavour to gain infor- 
mation respecting the lost ship ; and to get from the 
natives the things which had drifted on shore. But the 
natives merely sent impertinent messages, and an old 
broken paper-framed looking-glass ; and told him to be 
contented with that. This strengthened the governor's 
suspicion, and he thought part of the crew had been 
murdered. To gain the articles in possession of the 
Indians, he was obliged to send a strong party of armed 
men amongst them ; and drive them from their village 
into the woods, before they could gain the articles. From 
that hour to this, the natives have shrunk from tampering 
w^ith any thing under the Company's protection. 

The year following, a splendid brig — the Isabella — 
commanded by Captain Ryan, shared the same fate. She 
drove upon tlie sands : but the whole of the crew were 
saved; and, b}' the prompt exertions of Dr. M'Loughlin, 
and the officers of Fort Vancouver, great part of the 
cargo was saved : but the vessel went to pieces ; and was 
drifted, piecemeal, to sea. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 113 

A little time previous to my leaving the country, 
Michel Laframboise, the gentleman in charge of the 
trapping parties hunting the plains near California, 
brought news of an American party having been cut off. 
This party had left the Wallamette settlement ; and were 
proceeding to California, to purchase cattle. Some 
Americans, previous to this party, had been on the same 
route, and an Indian had been murdered by them. But 
Indians always wait for revenge — so did they in this in- 
stance. The Indians, finding that this party consisted of 
Americans only, thought it offered them their long-looked- 
for opportunity of revenge. They had, it was supposed, 
been watching the Americans on their journey, for days ; 
and knowing that these had to cross a high mountain, 
where there was but a narrow and crooked path to guide 
them; which was lined by rocks and bushes on each side, 
selected this as the spot of attack. The path was so 
narrow, that their horses were obliged to walk single, one 
after the other. After the party had gone some distance 
up the mountain, the Indians completely closed them in, 
and let fly their arrows and guns ; killing both horses 
and men. The Americans, having but little chance of 
defence or retaliation, as the Indians were sheltered by 
the rocks and bushes, were slain unresistingly. One 
little half-breed boy, named Johnson, after three arrows 
had pierced him, was in the act of firing his gun, when 
a fourth arrow struck him in the throat and killed him. 
Two men only were saved to tell the tale. 

On one occasion an American vessel. Captain Thomp- 
son, was in the Columbia, trading furs and salmon. The 
vessel had got aground, in the upper part of the river, 
and the Indians, from various quarters, mustered with 
the intent of cutting the Americans off, thinking that 
they had an opportunity of revenge, and would thus 
escape the censure of the Company. Dr. M'Loughlin, 
the governor of Fort Vancouver, hearing of their inten- 
tion, immediately despatched a party to their rendezvous ; 
10* 



114 OREGON TERRITORY. 

and informed them that if they injured one American, it 
would be just the same offence as if they had injured one 
of his servants, and they would be treated equally as 
enemies. This stunned them ; and they relinquished 
their purpose ; and all retired to their respective homes. 
Had not this come to the governor's ears the Americans 
must have perished. 

Mode of curing salmon. — As soon as a cargo of salmon 
is caught, the natives bring it to the trading post in their 
canoes. A number of Indian women are employed by 
the trader, seated on the beach, with knives, ready to cut 
up the fish. The salmon are counted from each Indian, 
for which a ticket is given for the quantity, large or 
small. After the whole of the salmon are landed, the 
Indians congregate around the trading shop for their 
payment, and receive ammunition, baize, tobacco, but- 
tons, &c. 

The women employed by the trader commence cutting 
out the backbones, and cut off the heads of the salmon. 
They are then taken to the salter, and placed in a large 
hogshead, with a quantity of coarse salt. They remain 
there for several days, until they become quite firm. The 
pickle produced from these is boiled in a large copper 
kettle, and the blood, which floats by the boiling process 
to the top, is skimmed off, leaving the pickle perfectly 
clear. The salmon are then taken from the hogsliead 
and packed in tierces, with a little more salt ; the tierces 
are then headed up, and laid upon their bilge, or widest 
part, leaving the bunghole open ; the pickle is next poured 
in, until the tierce becomes full ; a circle of clay, about 
four inches high, is then made round the bunghole, into 
which the oil from the salmon rises. This oil is skimmed 
off, and, according as the salmon imbibes the pickle, more 
pickle is poured in, so as to keep the liquid suflaciently 
on the surface, and afford facility for skimming off the 
oil. After the oil ceases to rise to the circle round the 
bunghole, the salmon is then supposed to be sufficiently 



OREGON TERRITORV. 115 

prepared ; the clay circle is cleared away, and the hole is 
bunged up. Salmon, so cured, will keep good for three 
years. This, soaked in a little water for a few hours 
previous to using, is delicious eating ; but, of course, 
much of its deliciousness depends on its original quality 
when taken, and its freshness when put in salt. 

The dogs are very fond of the raw salmon. The 
Indian dogs, which are a sort of half-wolf breed, with 
sharp nose and long bushy tail, eat it with perfect safety ; 
but it is fatal to English dogs. I lost three valuable 
dogs in this way, before I was aware of its fatal effects. 
They slunk into the woods, and pined away until they 
died. On opening them, I found the gall bladder as hard 
as a stone. 

The Company have already established the following 
principal trading forts or stations within tlie limits of tiie 
territory, independently of minor and temporary posts, 
and several migratory establishments on the frontiers of 
California, and the country extending towards the con- 
fines of the United States. In short, it may be said, that 
they have taken possession of every district within the 
whole region ; which, throughout its wild and rugged 
parts, as well as its fertile parts, is dotted with their forts 
and establishments ; and they exercise unrestrained trade 
and intercourse with all the native tribes ; whereas the 
Americans, with the exception of a few missionary and 
agricultural establishments, have scarcely any possession 
or hold of the country. 

They possess, then, the following principal posts : — 
Fort Vancouver, on the north bank of the Columbia, 
ninet}'^ miles from the ocean, and in latitude 45^^, longi- 
tude 122^ 30' ; Fort George (formerly Astoria), near the 
mouth of this river ; Fort Nasqually, on Puget's Sound, 
latitude 47^ ; Fort Langley, at the outlet of Frazer's 
River, latitude 49° 25'; Fort M'Loughlin, on Milbank 
Sound, latitude 52=' ; Fort Simpson, on Dundas Island, 
latitude 54^°; Frazer's Fort, Fort James, M'Leod's Fort, 



116 OREGON TERRITORY. 

Chilcotin, and Fort Alexandria, on Frazer's River, and 
its branches, between 51° and 54^° parallels of latitude; 
Thompson's Fort, on Thompson's River, a tributary of 
Frazer's, latitude 50° ; Kootiana Fort, on Flatbow River ; 
Flathead Fort, on Flathead River ; Fort Hall and Fort 
Boisais, on the Saptin, or Snake River ; Fort Colville, 
and Fort O'Kanagan, on the Columbia, above its junction 
with the Saptin ; Fort Perces, or Wallawalla, a few miles 
below the junction ; Fort M'Kay, at the mouth of the 
Umqua River, latitude 43° 30', and longitude 124° W. 

In addition to these establishments, they have an im- 
mense number of boats and canoes, for trading on all the 
lakes, and rivers, and streams of the interior, by means 
of which they hold communication with their possessions 
east of the Rocky Mountains, and carry up the commu- 
nication to Hudson's Bay, along a distance of several 
thousand miles. Besides these, they have powerful 
steamers, heavily armed, which run along the coast, and 
among its bays and inlets, for the double purpose of com- 
merce and protection against aggressions in those seas. 
They have likewise several sailing vessels for these pur- 
poses, varying from two to five hundred tons burden, 
completely armed and equipped, besides barges for the 
conveyance of goods to the lower part of the river, and 
other craft, during the salmon season, for the conveyance 
of supplies to the fishing stations on the parts of the river 
unnavigable to the larger craft. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Wappatoo Island and Wallamelle Settlement. 

Five miles below Fort Vancouver, and on the opposite, 
or southern side, there is an island called Wappatoo 
Island. It lies between the two entrances of the river 



OREGON TERRITORY. 117 

Wallamette, which flows into the Columbia, and is nearly 
triangular. Its northern side, facing- the Columbia, is 
about fifteen miles, long ; the side bounded by the eastern 
branch, or mouth of the Wallamette, is about seven miles 
long ; and the side bounded by tlie western branch of this 
river is about twelve miles. It derives its name from the 
great abundance of an esculent root called wappatoo ; a 
name which the Indians give the potato. This root is 
oblong, about one inch long and half an inch thick, 
resembling the lower end of a small parsnip. The In- 
dians use it for food ; and I have seen flocks of swans, 
which abound in these parts, dig it up with their bills, as 
it grov.'s only a few inches below the surface. Its taste 
resembles that of the potato. 

On this island, and on an elevated situation, near the 
point where the mouths of the Wallamette branch off, 
Captain W3'eth, of Boston, founded a settlement, when 
he commenced his fishing and fur trading projects ; but 
which has since been abandoned, with the abandonment 
of his projects. The vegetation is generally good ; but 
in the central parts there are marshes, in which the water 
rises and falls with the tide, and overflows the land. It 
is covered, in most parts, with different kinds of timber, 
but principally oak and pine. A few hogs placed on it a 
few years ago by the Company have increased to large 
herds, which subsist on the wappatoo, acorns, &c., and 
are become a source of profit, by supplying pork for the 
home consumption, and for exportation. On the island 
the Company have also established a large dairy farm. 

The upper, or eastern mt)uth of the Wallamette is about 
half the breadth of the Columbia ; the river itself, which 
flows nearly due north, is navigable to the distance of 
twenty-five miles for large vessels, and is studded with 
numerous islands, on which the timber is chiefly oak, 
very little pine (if any) growing there. The further 
navigation of the river is obstructed by rapids, and is 
completely barred by cataracts, or falls, about a mile 



118 



OREGON TERRITORY. 



above the rapids. The tide ascends as far as these 
rapids, which can be passed only by canoes. Tiie Cow 
country, on tlie western banks, is g-enerally hig-h land, 
covered with wood, principally pine, rising from the 
water side. The land on the eastern side is undulating-, 
and admirably calculated for cultivation. The river 
receives many tributaries ; but one of the most conside- 
rable is one which flows from the east, and rushes into 
the Wallamette with such force, just below the rapids, as 
to create a heavy and dangerous swell. As far as the 
rapids the breadth of the river is about five hundred 
yards. The falls consist of three successive cascades, 
in which the water is precipitated through deep gullies 
worn into ledges of black rock, running in an irregular 
diagonal across the bed of the river. The noise of the 
water is almost deafening, resembling the roar of the 
loudest thunder ; and the appearance of the spray, acted 
on by the sun's rays, is almost dazzling. The eastern 
shore, for some distance below the falls, is a perpendicular 
cliff, thirty feet high. On the top of this cliff there is a 
sort of small plain ; and as the valley of the Wallamette 
is the most fertile district in all Columbia, and best 
calculated for the production of corn (since the country 
round about abounds in excellent timber of different 
kinds) and as the falls can be approached from above, 
as well as from below, by sloops, schooners, steamers, 
&c., this small plot of level ground on the precipitous 
bank of the river at the lowest cascade is admirably 
calculated as a site for fiour and saw mills. When I left 
the country the Company, seeing all these advantages, 
were forming a raceway at the falls ; and were drawing 
timber to the ground, with a view to erect some such 
works there. Formerly it was necessary to unload at 
the commencement of the falls, and convey canoes, lug- 
gage, and all, over land to the other end, till there was 
deep and smooth water found again. 

It is a curious sight to observe the salmon ascending 



OREGON TERRITORY. 119 

these waterfalls. They seem to measure the height and 
distanee, and their own strength accurately. They 
appear to put their tails in their mouths ; and having 
drawn the body to the proper curve, and produced the 
necessary tension and poise, they let go their hold and 
spring upward, (outside the descending sheet of water,) 
like an arrow shot from a bow, and reach the next basin 
into which the water is precipitated. Having there, as 
it were, taken breath, and recruited their strength after 
such an effort, they renew the attempt, over the succes- 
sive cataracts, until they reach the smooth river above. 
They generally succeed ; some, however, fail, and get 
sadly battered against the rocks, 

A short distance above the falls, the mountains imme- 
diately rise from the water's edge, and are clothed with 
forests of the largest timber, to the distance of about 
fifteen miles along the river ; and after that the country 
opens on both sides into a rich level, or undulating ground, 
spreading to a great extent. This section of the river is 
navigable nearly for as large vessels as can navigate the 
section below the falls. 

It is in this fertile district, near the banks of the river, 
at the distance of about fifty miles from its entrance into 
the Columbia, that the Wallamette settlement has been 
established. 

The Americans make a great boast of this settlement 
as an American establishment ; and speak of it in their 
public papers and speeches, as if it were a settlement ex- 
clusively American, and founded by Americans, capable 
of being made the nucleus of a great community — that 
it is a most thriving colony — that it continues the right 
of possession to the government of the States — that it 
owes no favour to, and is independent of, the Hudson's 
Bay Company — that there it stands, and will stand, a 
memorial of American right — that it is the duty of the 
American government to protect it ; while it holds out 
every incentive to industrious and enterprising citizens 



120 OREGON TERRITORY. 

to join it. All this, and much more, has been said and 
written by gasconading- traders on the passions and weak- 
ness of the populace, about this vaunted establishment : 
and has been believed. It is not very surprising that 
any extravagant story, which flattered the vanity, or ex- 
cited the hopes or the cupidity of such a people as the 
Americans, should gain credence in the States ; espe- 
cially if it be seasoned with bitterness against the 
" Britishers." Much of this misrepresentation and ex- 
aggerating nonsense has been believed too in England ; 
simply because the public could not imagine that state- 
ments so pertinaciously reiterated could be without, at 
least, some foundation ; and because no attempts were 
made by those acquainted with the real state of the case 
to disabuse the British public of their misconception, on 
this, and other points of importance ; such as the right of 
possession. 

The Hudson's Bay Company, who had the best means 
of refuting the statements of the United States' writers, 
evidently despised and disregarded those statements. 
They were content, not only with the possession of the 
country, as the chief partners, and with the almost ex- 
clusive enjoyment of its trade ; but rested on the con- 
sciousness of their just, moral, and judicious conduct as 
traders, and occupiers under their right of imperial 
tenure : and they fairly and naturally concluded that it 
would tend to throw a doubt on the justice of their claim, 
if they were to enter into a controversy about it. Their 
claim they considered to be undeniably just ; and its vin- 
dication to be the duty of the legislature alone. 

Now the plain history of the origin and progress of 
this settlement is simply this. 

About seventeen or eighteen years ago, when the set- 
tlement at Vancouver, as the western head-quarters of 
the Company, acquired a distinguished and very promi- 
nent position, and became the rallying-point for all the 
servants of the Company far and near : when the sur- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 121 

rounding country became well explored ; when, from the 
long and undisputed possession of it by the Company, it 
began to be considered by the Company's servants as 
British land — British, too, as to its climate, and the capa- 
bilities of the soil — some of the Company's servants, 
when they had determined to enjoy the tranquillity of 
independent retirement after their long and arduous ser- 
vices, fixed on the banks of the Wallamette as their last 
place of residence ; rather than return to Canada, or 
Scotland, or England, fi-om which they were weaned by 
long absence. The Company gave every encouragement 
for the formation of a settlement, giving them stock, &c., 
to start with. 

By and by, some of the Company's officers (I may 
especially mention one — Mr. M'Kay, the well-known and 
meritorious director of the Rocky Mountain trapping 
parties) thought this commencement afforded a fair 
opportunity of becoming settlers, consecutively with the 
retention of their connexion with the Company, and they 
opened farms there. The speculation went on thrivingly : 
and the opinion spread abroad, even to the United States, 
through means of the American free-trappers, that a 
rising colony would be soon established in that locality ; 
and that the success of this, under such powerful auspices 
as those of the Company, would gradually lead to the 
colonization of the whole lower region, where it was 
capable of colonization. This impression the Company's 
chief officers did not attempt to remove. They, on the 
contrary, rather wished to affiDrd every encouragement 
and facility for the progress of improvement and civiliza- 
tion. 

The Americans, who had already made many attempts 
to effect a lodgment in the country, but on every occasion 
failed, either from their want of skill, or of capital, or of 
integrity in their dealings with the natives — whether 
they attempted fur trading companies or fishing com- 
panies — having now seen that a fair opportunity of se- 

11 



133 OREGON TERRITORY. 

curing a possession was opened to them under the Com- 
pany's shelter, bethought them of despatching mission- 
aries, with the ostensibly benevolent and Christian view 
of giving religious culture to the rude, and ill-educated 
servants of the Company, and the denizens of this grow- 
ing little community. 

A few missionaries did arrive : and they, as was be- 
coming their professed purpose, received every encourage- 
ment and favour from the governor of Fort Vancouver — 
Dr. M'Loughlin ; and, as became their true purpose, 
commenced resident farmers — teaching, it is true, the 
natives the great elements of Christianity, and forms of 
prayer — but using their gratuitous labour for the cultiva- 
tion of their fields. These missionaries did not " hide 
their lamp under a bushel," but, on the contrary, " pro- 
claimed their light before all men," and sent to the States 
flattering accounts of their success. The consequence 
was, that some adventurers, with a little property, were 
induced to brave the perils of the long and formidable 
journey (leaving millions of more fertile acres at home, 
requiring less capital and labour for cultivation) to the 
Oregon, Some of these settlers came in their real cha- 
racter of farmers, but they were very few. Others came 
in the guise of missionaries — such missionaries as their 
predecessors — men who give a little preaching as an 
equivalent for much bodily labour performed by the 
native converts. Some of these have located themselves 
in other districts : and hence there are, by American 
writers, given the most pompous accounts — accounts, to 
those who are acquainted with the real facts, sometimes 
laughable, and sometimes calculated to excite indignation 
and disgust — of American settlements. 

While I was stationed at Vancouver, and in the de- 
tached forts, and in the trading ships, the excessively 
benevolent encouragement granted by the governor to 
the new importation of American residents, under the 
designation of missionary-settlers, used to be freely dis- 



ohegon TERRiTOPa'. 123 

cussed. There were two parties — the patriot, and the 
liberal. The arguments, pro and con, may be summed 
up thus : the British, or patriots, maintained that the 
governor was too chivalrously generous — that liis gene- 
rosity was thrown away, and would be badly requited — 
that he was nurturing a race of men who would by-and- 
by rise from tiicir meek and humble position as the 
grateful acknowledgers of his kindness, into the bold 
attitude of questioners of his own authority, and the 
British right to Vancouver itself This party grounded 
their arguments on an appeal to the conduct and cha- 
racter of the Americans whom they had seen — especially 
the free-trappers, and the remnants of the American 
companies which still dodged about in the country. 
They did too take into account the missionaries, who 
were then tried, and who, of course, did every thing in 
their power to conciliate, at their first appearance on 
such a new stage, the good opinion of those whose ap- 
plause or condemnation could retain, or expel them from 
the scene of their labours, and prospects. This party 
had a very lively feeling for the improvement of the In- 
dians in all the arts of civilization, and thought that if 
any attempts were made for the conversion of the natives 
to Christianity, and to their adoption of more humanized 
institutions (which they limited to British institutions), 
a solid and permanent foundation should be laid — the 
Indians should not be instructed by halves — a thoroughlj^ 
lasting system should be adopted towards them ; which 
would make them not merely professed, but practical 
Christians. Something more than making them the ob- 
servers of forms, and the repeaters of prayers, was requi- 
site, especially as most of the tribes already believed in 
many of the great cardinal points of Christianity — such 
as the existence of a good and evil Spirit — the creation 
of the world by the Good Spirit — the immortality of the 
soul — a future state of rewards and punishments. They 
also maintained that the missionaries should be mission- 



^ 



124 OREGON TERRITORY. 

aries in reality — men looking to the successful termina- 
tion of their labours as their principal reward — men 
above the imputation or suspicion of being guided by 
self-interest, in their exertions — men who would not 
squat^ as permanent and fixed luisbandmen, and occa- 
sional traffickers in skins of animals, among the natives, 
using them as farm-labourers ; but that they should be 
bona fide pastors of the Christian church — going about in 
the true spirit of primitive Christianity — instructing the 
people in the cardinal doctrines of our religion, and in 
the arts of civilized life. Furthermore, they used to 
maintain, that, if missionaries at all were to be intro- 
duced, or sanctioned in the country, this useful class of 
men — a class calculated to exercise such vital influence 
over the character and condition of the natives — should 
come within the direct control of the dominant power, 
i. e., the British power, and should be tlie countrymen of 
those who absolutely occupied Oregon. Besides, they 
used occasionally to launch out against tlie character and 
institutions of the Americans generally, saying that, 
while they proclaimed liberty, they practised slavery, in 
some of its most odious forms, not as individuals merely, 
but that whole States adopted and defended the practice 
— that it was then a fraud and a mockery for Americans 
to profess any anxiety for the amelioration of the Indians, 
since at home they enslaved and hunted them down, 
keeping them in irredeemable bondage in the southern 
states, and driving those who still retained their freedom, 
in the north, and northwest, to the hills and deserts east 
of tlie Rocky Mountains. They also used to urge the 
strong facts of the repeated /«iZ« res of the Americans to 
secure any extensive possession in the country, and of the 
general repugnance of the natives to them — repugnance 
caused by the experience which the natives had of their 
habits and principles — men wlio had no scruple about the 
means of making money, and who would, at the caprice 
of the moment, hang up an obnoxious individual, without 
judge or jury, by their Lynch, or mob law. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 125 

The other party, which v.'as called the plnlosopliical 
and the liberal party, did not contravene these general 
licads of argument. T.hcy admitted that the Americans, 
not only as individuals, but in communities of whole 
States, were not exempt from the charge of fraudulency 
and tyranny ; inasmuch as the Southern States are 
slaveholders, and some of the wealthiest States openly 
refuse to pay their debts, though no people treat their 
own debtor-prisoners more cruelly : — that the half-aposto- 
lical, and half-agricultural character of the missionaries, 
was not that best adapted to the purpose and spirit of 
men going abroad to enligjitcn the heathen ; — that the 
Americans failed to secure a permanent footing as traders 
in the country, from the dishonesty of their dealings, and 
their habit of domineering over the Indians, and corrupt- 
ing them. But still they asserted that the Americans 
ouffht not to be excluded, inasmuch as they possessed 
some claims to the right of occupancy — claims, though 
feeble, still existing — and, until these were quashed or 
confirmed, it would be unjust, and impolitic, to exclude 
them from all possession. The Americans were, it was 
true, they admitted, holders of slaves at home, and were 
every day driving the Indians from their native lands ; 
and, though hypocrites, as to professions of freedom, on 
that account, yet they could not enslave the Indians of 
Oregon, or drive them further^oif, when there was British 
power to check them. 

Though the missionaries were not of the best class, yet 
the}- were better than none at all ; especially when Eng- 
land so grossly neglected the natives. Dr. M'Loughlin 
may have acted indiscreetly, but he acted justly, in sanc- 
tioning these emigrants. He could not lay an interdict 
on their arrival ; and even should they turn out as bad as 
the rest of the motley groups that came from the States, 
the British residents could not be disappointed. But, 
above all, good would grow out of evil in the end ; for the 
Americans, by their intercourse with the British, would 
11* 



126 OREGON TERRITORY. 

become more humanized, tolerant, and honest. Hence, 
they said, it was philosophical and liberal to encourage 
the American missionary squatters. And as to the Ame- 
rican Lynch law, and other usuagcs which were repug- 
nant to justice and humanity, they were rather exceptions 
to the American code, than examples of American prin- 
ciples of legislation, which, in commercial and civil mat- 
ters, was, generally speaking, just and humane ; and 
from which even British legislation derived some useful 
hints. 

These debates, which embraced various other points, 
too numerous to detail, would sometimes run high ; and 
show a great deal of acuteness and general knowledge, — 
more than would be expected from men v/ho had spent 
most of their time in the wilderness, and in communion 
with savages. Tiie Canadians and half-breeds generally 
sided with the British, or patriot party, and turned the 
scale. But I must confess, that though, on the whole 
range of dispute, the patriot party were the victors, yet, 
on one point, their antagonists had a clear advantage — 
the neglect of the conversion and civilization of the 
natives on the part of the home-government and of the 
British and Foreign Missionary Society, But this sub- 
ject is more fully treated in another place. 

The residents of this settlement of Wallamettc are a 
mixed and motley group — retired servants of the Com- 
pany — American missionary-farmers — some few Ameri- 
can farmers, not missionaries ; and free trappers, who 
preferred an easy location on this district, to the exciting 
and desperate perils of solitary v/andcrinii's amid the hills 
and deserts, and to occasional residence among the sa- 
vagcs : several of these latter have squatted there with 
their Indian wives and children. Tlie residences show 
different degrees of comfort, according to the property, 
the intelligence, and industry of the occupiers ; from the 
rude log-structure, of fifteen or twenty feet square, with 
the mud-chimney — a wooden bench in place of chairs — a 



OREGON TERRITORY. 127 

bedstead covered with flag-mats — a few pots, and other 
trifling- articles, to the large, tolerably well-built, and 
equipped farai-house ; in which the owners cnjoj^, in 
rjide plenty, the produce of tolerabl}'^ well-tilled, and well- 
stocked farms. These spots of cultivated land, of course, 
vary in extent and quality of culture according to the 
skill and resources of the ov.'ners. Some farms consist 
of not more than thirty acres ; some consist of one hun- 
dred. The best appointed farms are those of the Com- 
pany's servants. Mr. M'Kay, who has farmed under the 
Company's sanction, has lately erected a grist-mill, the 
expense of which is reported to be not less than .£2000. 
These dwellings do not, properly speaking, constitute a 
village, but are scattered over a surface of several miles : 
though some few are clustered together. Most of the 
missionaries are Episcopalian ]\Iethodists. But half the 
civilized population, if not more, are Roman Catholics, 
who have their own priest and their ov^^n chapel. 

The colony has all the appurtenances of a settlement — 
school-houses — chapels — an hospital — a meeting-house — 
granaries, &;c. But though there is a considerable ex- 
tent of land under cultivation, yet the whole is not per- 
haps more extensive than the Company's single farm at 
Vancouver; and in point of management, and approxi- 
mation to true farming (according to English principles 
and notions), cannot be even remotely compared to it. 

Lieutenant Wilkes, who conducted the Exploring 
Expedition appointed by the American government, vi- 
sited this settlement ; and in his report, lately published 
by authority, sa5'^s, — " About sixty families are settled 
there, the industrious of whom appear to be thriving. 
They are composed of American missionaries, trappers, 
and Canadians, who were formerly servants of the 
Hudson's Bay Company. All of them appeared to be 
doing well ; but I was, on the whole, disappointed from 
the reports which had been made to me, not to find the 



128 OREGON TERRITORY. 

settlement in a greater state of forwardness, considering- 
the advantages which the missionaries liave iiad." 

Now this account of the settlement deserves to be no- 
ticed. He says that the nmnber of families settled there 
vs'as sixty — not more. Of these, many were British sub- 
jects ; so that the number of subjects of the United States 
was inconsiderable. The American missionaries were 
merely speculating small farmei-s. All were not thriving : 
but only the industrious portion. This, together with his 
mention of disappointment, and of the reports made to 
him, clearly shows that there were circulated in the 
States, exaggerated accounts of the prosperity and im- 
portance of the colony ; and false inducements held out 
to citizens, to emigrate thither ; and to the Federal go- 
vernment, to sustain its rights even at the risk of a 
quarrel with Great Britain, in defence of this fancied 
American colony — rights which were not, and are not, 
invaded ; and are not meant to be invaded by the Com- 
pany. This admission, too, which is involved in his ac- 
count, is the more worthy of notice, considering the dis- 
position which this gentleman shows, to represent to his 
government the Oregon territory as a prize, even in an 
agricultural point of view, worth contending for ; as 
appears from the extravagance of his general picture, in 
his summing up. He says : — 

" To conclude ; few portions of the globe, in my opi- 
nion, are so rich in soil, so diversified in surface, or so 
capable of being rendered the happy home of an industri- 
ous and civilized community. For beauty of scenery, 
and salubrity of climate, it cannot be surpassed. It is 
peculiarly adapted for an agricultural and pastoral people : 
and no portion of the world, beyond the tropics, can be 
found that will yield so readily, with moderate labour, to 
the wants of man." 

All this he asserts, although it appears from his whole 
previous statement, that from the nature of the soil and 
climate, he considered at least one half of the territory 



OREGON TERRITORY. 129 

unfit for agriculture. With respect to the entire of the 
eastern section, he says, " The temperature during the 
day, differing from 50^ to 60°, renders it unfit for agri- 
culture ; and there are but few places in its northern 
parts, where the climate would not effectually put a stop 
to its ever becoming settled. In each day, according to 
the best accounts, all the changes are experienced, which 
are incident to spring, summer, autumn, and winter. 
There are places where small farms might be located, 
but they are/ttr in number." 

Mr. Farnham, tiie latest American writer, though an 
undisguised partisan — a rampant anti-Britisher — and 
anxious to place the capabilities and value of the country 
in the most favourable view before his fellow-citizens, 
cannot avoid dissenting from Mr. Wilkes's concluding 
remarks. He says, " It will be seen on reference to 
them, that the agricultural capabilities of Oregon are 
placed above those of any part of the world, beyond the 
tropics. This is a most surprising conclusion — at war 
with his own account of the several sections which he 
visited ; and denied by every intelligent man living in 
the country. What ! Oregon in this respect equal to Ca- 
lifornia, or the Valley of the Mississippi 1" 

I beg to quote from Mr. Farnham, who visited this set- 
tlement, the following passage. Alluding to the mis- 
sionaries, he says, " their object in settling in Oregon, I 
understood to be twofold — the one, and principal, to civi- 
lize and Christianize tlie Indians — the other, and not less 
important, the establishment of religious and literary in- 
stitutions, for the benefit of the white emigrants. Their 
plan of operation on the Indians, is to learn their various 
languages, for the purpose of itinerant preaching, and of 
teaching the young the English language. The scholars 
are also instructed in agriculture, the regulations of a 
well-established household, reading, writing, arithmetic, 
and geography." 

Then it appears, these missionaries were encouraged 



130 OREGOX TERRITORY. 

to settle in the country, in order that they may open the 
way, and hold out inducements, for an influx of emi- 
grants from the States. No doubt their publislied pros- 
pectus of benefits to come is highly imposing ; and their 
promised zeal and efficiency are very great, until they 
come to be tested : but the following passage brings down 
their disinterestedness, as disseminators of religion, and 
their prosperity as an agricultural community, to a low 
standard. 

" They have many hundred acres of land under the 
plough ; and cultivated chiefly by the native pupils. 
They have more than a hundred head of horned cattle ; 
thirty or forty horses ; and many swine. They have 
granaries filled with wheat, oats, barley, and peas ; and 
cellars v>^ell stored with vegetables." 

This shows, tliat from their using the native pupils as 
labourers, they did not mean to dispense their blessings 
without receiving a little consideration — that they are not 
altogether spiritual in their motives, and mode of life : 
and their many hundred acres of land under the plough ; 
their maximum stock of horned cattle ; and thirty or 
forty horses, are no great signs of their rising greatness ; 
especially when it is considered that they have been now 
located for many years in the country ; and had, as Mr. 
Wilkes — the organ of the federal government — assures 
us, " many advantages" — v»'hich means, that they re- 
ceived all American support, especially from the funds of 
the missionary society of Boston, in order to effect Ame- 
rican purposes. 

It is well wortli v.-liilc to quote here Mr. Wilkes. Un- 
der the general head of " Missionaries''^ (and he indeed 
weighs in the balance the entire class — not those of the 
W^allamette settlement alone, but those too scattered 
about in other localities), he says, " Little has as yet 
been effected by them in Christianizing the natives. 
They are principally engaged in t!ie cultivation of the 
mission farms, and in the care of their own stock ; in 



OREGON TERRITORY. 131 

order to obtain flocks and herds for themselves. As far 
as my observation went, in the parts of the country 
where the missionaries reside, there are few Indians to 
eng-age their attention ; and they seemed more occupied 
with the settlement of the country, and in agricultural 
pursuits, than in missionary labours." 

Every word of this is undeniably true: and not the 
least remarkable and important part of the statement is 
the accident (query, fortuitous?) of their having selected 
localities for residence, where they had no spiritual flocks 
to tend. 

But though they have not as yet thriven as well as 
Mr. Wilkes expected, yet Mr. Farnham, in the following 
paragraph, threatens the execution of great projects; and 
holds out the hope tliat they will, by and by, erect a com- 
munity, with all the concomitant institutions, worthy of 
the mother republic. It is true, the paragraph, from its 
boast and magniloquence, will appear, to sober English- 
men, ridiculous ; but it is quite characteristic ; and is 
well calculated to foster the pleasing and voluntary delu- 
sion of American vanity — the purpose for which it was 
designed. 

" A site had been already selected for an academical 
building. A court of Justice had been organized by the 
popular voice. A mililary corps was about to be formed 
for the protection of settlers — and other measures were 
in progress : at once showing that the American, with 
his characteristic energy and enterprise ; and the philan- 
thropist, with his holy aspirations for the improvement of 
the human condition — had crossed the snowy barrier of 
the mountain ; to mingle with the dashing waves of the 
Pacific seas, the sweet music of a busy and virtuous civi- 
lization" ! ! ! 

He then gives a sketch of the plucky patriotism of the 
settlers : — 

" During my stay here, several American citizens 
called on me, to talk of their father-land ; and inquire as 



132 OREGON TERRITORY. 

to the probability that its laws would be extended over 
them. The constantly-repeated inquiries were, ' why arc 
we left without protection in this part of our country's 
dominion ? — why axe foreigners to domineer over Ameri- 
can citizens — drive their traders from the country — and 
make us as dependent on them for the clothes we wear, 
us their own apprenticed slaves V I could return no an- 
sv.^er to these questions, exculpatory of this national de- 
linquency ; and therefore advised them to embody their 
grievances in a petition to Congress. They had a meet- 
ing for that purpose : and afterwards put into my hand a 
petition, signed by sixty-seven citizens of the United 
States, and persons desirous of becoming such — the sub- 
stance of which was a description of the country — their 
unprotected situation — and, in conclusion, a prayer that 
the Federal government would extend over them the pro- 
tection and institutions of the republic. Five or six of 
the settlers had not an opportunity to sign the paper. 
The Catholic priest refused to do it." 

Setting aside the silly abusiveness, and anti-British 
animus evinced in the whole paragraph, and especially in 
the application of the epithet slaves to the apprentices 
and agents of the Hudson's Bay Company, the reader 
cannot fail to observe the important fact, that, notwith- 
standing all the zeal of the settlers and of Mr. Farnham, 
and all the efforts to make a demonstration, the peti- 
tioners to Congress were not more than sixty-seven — edu- 
cated and uneducated — civilized, half-breeds, and wild 
trappers, with their Indian wives. Even all these were 
not citizens, but embraced " persons desirous of becoming 
such." How many the latter class consisted of he does 
not say. If the number was at all important he would 
not fail to mention it. But suppose these were all Ame- 
ricans ; add to them the five or six settlers who had no 
opportunity of signing this petition, and who, it is fair to 
presume, were Americans, yet the aggregate could not 
exceed eighty souls. Now as this petition was evidently 



OREGON TERRITORY. 133 

a got lip affair (for this gentleman went to the settlement 
with American colours flying — there were harbingers to 
herald his arrival, as a great American writer and cham- 
pion, visiting them in order to inspect their condition, 
and improve it), it is to be regretted that he did not give 
us an assurance whether the sixty-seven names were the 
bonajide names of persons come to the age of discretion ; 
no matter whether the petitioners could write their own 
names or not. But let it be conceded, that every one of 
the sixty.seven was a full grown man, of mature under- 
standing, wishing to retain the privileges of citizenship, 
and receive the exclusive protection of the Federal go- 
vernment ; yet the whole matter is a clear admission of 
the insignificance of the settlement (so far as its Ameri- 
canism is concerned), and of the fallacious representa- 
tions industriously propagated about it, with the view of 
giving factitious importance to American rights and 
American possession. He says the Catholic priest re- 
fused to sign the petition. No doubt he did ; and pru- 
dently too ; for he knew well, that he was sufficiently free 
and secure already ; and that it would not be clearsight- 
edness to surrender the steady light and certainty of Bri- 
tish freedom and protection, for the will-o'-the-wisp of 
expected American licentiousness. 

Now Mr. Wilkes gives a quietus to all these lamenta- 
tions about the absence of republican laws and federal 
protection, in these plain terms : " When there, I made 
particular inquiries whether laivs were necessary for 
their protection : and I feel assured that they require 
none at present, besides the moral code which it is their 
own duty to inculcate." He next adds, " The Catholic 
portion of the settlement are kept under good control by 
their priest." This little paragraph is doubly significant, 
as showing the reason why the priest did not consider 
that his flock required these American laws and institu- 
tions, and showing the marked contrast between the 
12 



134 OREGON TERRITORY. 

priest, who effected much for his congregation, and the 
Methodist missionaries, who effected but little. 

But Mr. Farnham is somewhat inconsistent with him- 
self, as men generally are who become partisans — take i\ 
distorted view of things — and labour only to carry a 
point, and bespatter their adversaries. After his elaborate 
eulogy of the noble objects and successful labours of the 
missionaries, in improving the moral condition of the 
natives ; and after holding forth glov/ing prospects of the 
rising greatness of the settlement, — in as much as they 
had already selected a site for an academical building — 
organized a court of justice — were about to form a mili- 
tary corps, for the protection of the settlers ; and after 
his talking so poetically about the American " enterpriser 
and philanthropist mingling the dashing waves of the 
Pacific seas, with the sweet music of busy and virtuous civi- 
lization ;" after all this, he descends rather awkwardly and 
suddenly from his high position, and, in plain terms, says : 

" The civil condition of t!ie territory being such as 
virtually to prohibit the emigration^ to any extent, of 
useful and desirable citizens, they have nothing to an- 
-ticipate from any considerable increase of their numbers, 
nor any amelioration of tlieir state to look for, from the 
accession of female society. In the desperation incident 
to their lonely lot, they take wives from the Indian tribes 
around them." 

Then if there is likely to bg no extensive emigration of 
useful and desirable citizens, there cannot be much of the 
sweet music of a busy and virtuous civiliza,tion, and no 
great need of academical buildings, and a military corps 
for the protection of settlers ; though there may be for a 
court of justice, as the settlers, it would appear, from the 
absence of useful and desirable citizens, must be a class 
among whom sucli an establishment would be desirable, 
The present settlers are useful and desirable citizens, or 
they are not. If they are, why may there not be an acces- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 135 

sion to their numbers from the States ? If they are not, 
what is the vise of the boasted missionaries? Why do 
not these men labour to render them useful and moral? 

He further says, " Tlie reader will tind it difficult to 
learn any sufficient reasons for their being left without 
the institutions of civilized society !" Now there are the 
institutions of British society, and laws in full force, in 
the country ; and of which they have the benefit and 
protection. But as we were before told that the officers 
and other employees of the Hudson's Bay Company were 
" apprenticed slaves," so now it is not surprising- that 
British institutions should be denied to be those of civi- 
lized society. 

But the crowning- hardship of the American citizens in 
Oregon, it seems, is that they must pay their debts in- 
curred to the British, and are liable to punishment for 
the commission of crimes. 

He says, " Their condition is truiy^ deplorable. They 
are liable to be arrested for debt or crime, and conveyed 
to the jails of Canada. For in that case the business of 
British subjects is interfered with, who, by way of reta- 
liation, will withhold the supplies of clothing, household 
goods, &c,, which the sfettlers have no other means of 
obtaining." This certainly is a cool mode of claiming a 
license for the free citizens to cheat, and injure their 
neighbours with impunity. So forsooth it is but a mere 
interference with the business of British subjects to rob 
them; and it is a great hardship if the British withhold 
supplies from the Americans when they refuse to pay 
them. Had" any Englishman said, or written, that this 
was the opinion of the Americans in Oregon, or out of 
it, he would be denounced as a prejudiced misrepresenter. 
But here the opinion is broadly avowed, by the organ of 
the democratic and dominant part}"- in the United States. 

It is necessary to mention two rivers to the south of 
the Waliamette, which flow through the same fertile and 
picturesque section of the country as the Waliamette 



136 OREGON TERRITORY. 

does (that section which is encircled by the Columbia 
ridge of hills on the north — by the ridge which runs along 
the shores of the Pacific on the west — by the towerins:" 
Klamet range on the south — and by the southern links of 
the President's range on the east.) These rivers are the 
Umqua and Klamet. 

The Umqua runs into the Pacific in nearly a westerly 
direction, from its source in the President's range ; and 
is lined for about a hundred miles by precipitous and 
rocky banks, covered with woods. It is nearly a mile 
wide at its mouth, and about three fathoms deep. The 
tide runs up about thirty miles ; and is then checked by- 
rapids and cataracts, which are to be found, even when 
the lower cataracts are passed, up the course of the river 
to its mountain source. Its entire length is about one 
hundred and seventy miles. 

Perhaps, on the face of the earth, there are not larger 
specimens of the pine tree than can be found here. Some 
of these trees are two hundred and fifty feet high, and 
fifty feet in girth. The seed vessels, which are oval, arc 
often more than a foot long, and the seeds are as large as 
a castor bean. I have seen some of these seeds brought 
to the fort that, from my observation of the many pretty 
things exhibited in the British Museum as curiosities, 
would, if exhibited there, be considered absolute iconders. 
I ought to say, that the largest pine trees do not yield 
the hardest, closest, and most valuable wood for use. 
Cedar trees are there often twenty-six feet in girth, and 
high in proportion ; and the gardens attached to the 
Company's fort produce turnips, often five pounds in 
weight each. Indeed, the natural capabilities of ihe soil 
are surprising. 

The Klamet, further south, runs nearly due west from 
the President's range into tlie Pacific, about fifty miles 
south of the Umqua, after a course of about one hundred 
and fifty miles. Tliis is tlic most southerly river of any 
note in the whole region, and the one that may be called 



OREGON TERRITORY. 137 

the natural inland water-boundary, on the southwest, 
between Oregon and California. 

Two peculiarities of the country around and near its 
banks, deserve notice. First, the face of the country is 
less undulating, and the country itself seems to rise 
higher in its agricultural and pastoral capabilities ; and 
secondly, the enormous pine and cedar trees gradually 
disappear, and groves of short myrtle, which diffuse a 
most delicious fragrance, line the banks, and beautifully 
dot the country. 

The Company have a settlement near the mouth of the 
Umqua, and have there commenced forming establish- 
ments, which promise (considering the great fecundity of 
the soil, and the genial and salubrious character of the 
climate,) if pushed on with the usual vigour and judg- 
ment exhibited in other establishments, farther to the 
north, where soil and climate have been comparatively 
unfavourable, to succeed amazingly. 

As Mr. Farnham loses no opportunity of (to use an 
American phrase) making a slap at the Britishers in 
general, and the Hudson's Bay Company in particular — 
although he acknowledges the kind and hospitable enter- 
tainment which he received at Fort Vancouver, — he treats 
his readers to the following accusation. Speaking of a 
Captain Young, an American, who, after failing in many 
trading speculations in the west of the continent, settled 
as a smali farmer in VVallamette district, and whom he 
designates as the " excellent old captain," he says, " He 
related to me many incidents of his hardships, among 
which the most surprising was that the Hudson's Bay 
Company refused to sell him a shred of clotliing, and as 
there were no other traders in the countr)'^ he was com- 
pelled, during their pleasure, to wear skins. A false re- 
port that he had been guilty of some dishonourable acts 
in California was the alleged cause for this treatment. 
But perhaps a better reason v:ould he that Mr. Young 
occasionally purchased beaver skins in the American ter- 
12* 



138 OREGON TERRITORY. 

ritory." To assert a false fact is bad enougli, but to 
follow it up by gratuitously hazarding a false opinion in 
support of it, is most reprehensible and unjustifiable. 
Tiie Company, so long as this man conducted himself 
properly as a free trader, gave him every assistance. Of 
his alleged dishonourable conduct in California, and other 
places (though reports very much to his discredit were 
confidently circulated about him, and by his own coun- 
trymen, who had no inducement to accuse liim falsely), 
the Company took no cognizance. They judged of him 
as they had experience of him. The Company inter- 
dicted, all through their range of operations in the Oregon, 
the use of spirituous liquors, as an article of trade among 
the natives, from a knowledge of its injurious influence 
upon them, or as an article of general use and luxury 
among their servants. Young, thinking a trade in spirits 
would be a good speculation, set up a distilleiy, and 
began to induce, not alone the natives, but the servants 
of the Company, to deal with liim. Vv'hen the Company 
expressed their disapproval of this and (Uher proceedings, 
he commenced an agitating course among the settlers, 
and defied the Company. The Company then quietly 
left him to his own resources. As to the insinuation 
which Mr. Farnham makes tliat the gravemen of his 
offence was his trading in American territory, as if 
Oregon was exclusively such, the reader can easily draw 
his own inference : — it was intended to work a purpose' 
in tlie States. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 139 



CHAPTER XIII. 



General ouliine of ihe Oregon Territory. 

The natural limits of this extensive and important re- 
gion, are strictly defined by nature. On the west, it is 
bounded, along its whole length, by the Pacific Ocean, 
and is indented by numerous bays and inlets — on the 
south, by the fertile country of California, and the Klamet 
range of hills, which are an offshoot from the Rocky 
Mountains, and run in a pai-allcl of 42° — on the whole of 
the east line, by the main ridge of the towering Rocky 
Mountains — and on the north, as the boundary between 
it and the Russian territories, by many spurs from the 
Rocky Mountains, and by a chain of lakes and rivers. 

The extent of the whole region in its widest sense, is 
about four times the area of Great Britain. It is re- 
markable, that all the rivers which flow through this ter- 
ritory, take their rise and are emptied within these limits; 
so that it may be said, that it scarcely has any natural 
communication with any other country. It extends from 
latitude 42° to that of 54° nortli. For beauty of scenery, 
salubrity of climate along the Pacific, and general adapta- 
tion for commerce, it can scarcely be surpassed by any- 
country in the world. There are, too, in many places, 
great fertility of soil, and agricultural capabilities. 

The natural character of the whole country, is a suc- 
cession of mountain ridges, and valleys, and plains ; and 
though there are many fertile districts within it, espe- 
cially towards the ocean, yet it may be safely averred, 
that as a whole, it is not favourable for agricultural culti- 
vation. 

It is, in a word, chiefly valuable for trade ; and for the 
advantages of the Columbia, and other maritime stations, 



140 OR EG ex TEPvRITOny. 

to tiie nortii ; wliicli secure for tJie possessors a command 
of the Northern Pacific, and an easy way to China. Of 
this the Americans are fully aware ; and hence their ex- 
traordinary anxiety, and exertions to effect a lodgment 
there. Hence too their exag-g-erated claims — their mis- 
representations — contemptible bluster ; and impotent me- 
naces. 

Though their writers and speakers have been for years 
deceiving, not alone the British public, but even their 
own ; by holding forth the country as a new paradise, in 
the remote wilderness of the west, to which the Ame- 
ricans alone had an undisputed right, while it was 
wrongfully invaded by the " grasping ?aid oppressive 
Britishers;" and most criminally inciting the ignorant 
populace to raise a ferment throughout the whole confe- 
deration ; in reference to the questioned — and indeed 
most questionable — claim of the Americans to the terri- 
tory ; and inciting their countrymen to encounter almost 
incalculable privations and hazards, in order to fix settle- 
ments in the country : yet the knowing ones of them must 
have been all along sensible that it is valuable mainly for 
trade. 

As nature has given the country external boundaries, 
of mountain, sea, lake, and river : so it may be inter- 
nally divided into three natural sections. 

First. The w^estern section ; lying between the Pacific 
Ocean, and Cascade Mountains — sometimes called Presi- 
dent's Range, This range runs parallel with the coast, 
the whole length of the territory, from north to south, 
rising in many places in high peaks, from twelve thou- 
sand to sixteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
Their distance from the coast varies from one hundred 
and twent}'^ to one hundred and fifty miles. 

Second. The middle section, lying between the Cascade 
Mountains on the west, and the Blue Mountain range, on 
the east. The Blue Mountains are much broken ajid 



OREGON TERRITORY. 141 

Third. The eastern section, which extends from the 
zigzag line of the Blue Mountains to the chain of the 
Rocky Mountains. Though each division or section may- 
be said to be separated from another, there are numerous 
communications between them by the large rivers, valleys, 
and passes. Thus, while the country is divided into parts, 
yet these parts are bound and consolidated by one vast 
belt of external boundary. 

Mountains. — The Cascade Range, as being that which 
bounds the western section of the country, and the most 
fertile and valuable section, is the most interesting and 
important range. Its northern termination may be taken 
from Mount Elias : it diverges thence eastward ; and 
winds afterwards southward, to the Gulf of California ; 
showing, along its course, numerous lofty peaks ; and, 
like most of the other mountains, strong signs of volcanic 
action, at a remote period. The American writers and 
authors give many of these peaks the names of American 
presidents. Says Mr. Farnham, in his usual gasconading- 
style, " All the principal peaks should bear the names of 
those distinguished men, whom the suffrages of the people 
that own Oregon (!) have from time to time called to ad- 
minister their national government." 

Hence we have, from north to south, on American au- 
thority. Mounts Tyler, — Harrison, — Van Buren, — Adams, 
— Washington, — Jefferson, — Madison, — Monroe, — Quin 
cy Adams, — Jackson ; names that are, for the most part, 
new to the Britishers. 

But, however, as they designate certain distinct coni- 
cal eminences, I adopt them for the present purpose. 

Mount Tyler lies in latitude forty-nine, and about 
thirty miles from the eastern waters of Vancouver's 
Island. Mount Harrison, about thirty miles east of Pa- 
get's Sound. Mount Van Buren, on the isthmus between 
Paget's Sound and the Pacific. Mount Adams, about 
twenty-five miles north of the Cascades of the Columbia. 
Mount Washington, about twenty miles south of the Cas 



142 OREGON TERRITORY. 

cades. This is the loftiest peak of all, and i:* about six- 
teen thousand feet high. Aiount Jackson is the most 
southern peak of the range, lying in latitude forty-one, 
beyond the southern boundary of the Oregon. 

These heiglits present a general sameness of appear- 
ance and character. Tiiey are covered with snow, and 
their sides are in general bare, rocky, and precipitous. 
This chain of mountains runs almost parallel with the 
Rocky Mountains ; and, at an average, is about four hun- 
dred miles distant from them ; so that the main breadth 
of the country, from the Rocky Mountains to the ocean, 
is, on a loose calculation, about five hundred miles. The 
hills intervening between these towering conical moun- 
tain peaks arc covered, from bottom to top, with forests 
of enormous trees — consisting of pine, fir, cedar, «Sl,c. 
Many of these present a bare shaft of two hundred feet 
high, before a limb shoots off; and near the base have a 
circumference of from six to eight fathoms. On the nortli 
side of the Columbia, near the Cascades, there runs west- 
ward a spur, varying from one thousand to fifteen bun- 
dred feet high above the river, from this great chain, 
covered with the huge trees indigenous to the country, 
as far as Cape Disappointment. This spur commences 
near Mount Adams. On the south side of the river a 
smaller spur, commencing at the Cascades, runs, from 
near Mount Washington, westward as far as Fort George ; 
so that the Columbia, from the Cascades almost to its 
mouth, runs through a deep valley, of unequal breadth, 
walled in by high mountains. These two parallel spurs 
decline in altitude westward. Again, there is another 
range of mountains, running along the brink of the Paci- 
fic coast from Upper California, northward as far as the 
Straits of Fuca. TJiis range is, for the most part, a bare 
and barren ridge of dark rocks. But the eastern sides of 
the southern portion are covered witli heavy timber, sucir 
as pine, fir, spruce, &c. 

That portion of the Oregon which is bounded on tlic 



OREGON TERRITORY. 143 

north by the Cohimbia — by the President's Range on the 
cast — by the Californian boundary on the south — and by 
the Pacific on the west, is by far the most fertile, and 
beautiful, and genial ; and, in truth, not only compara- 
tively with the other parts of the region is it so, but it is 
so abstractedly. Though undulating and broken in its 
surface, it may be designated as a vast rich plain, em- 
bedded within a circle of mountains : for on the west it 
is guarded by the Pacific ridge of mountains — on the 
south by the Klamet Range of the towering, snow-capped 
mountains, on the east by the rocks of the President's 
Range — and on the north by the Columbian hills. This 
vast valley possesses every facility for pasturage, and 
every capability for cultivation. The land is in general 
open — delightfully interspersed with clumps and groves 
of trees — well stocked with deer, elk, and all sorts of 
game ; and is studded with small lakes, and rivers, which 
yield, in innumerable quantities, all sorts of fish. 

The principal rivers are the Wallamette, the Umqua, 
and Klamet; which, with the productiveness of the soil, 
have been already noticed. 

Rivers. — The principal river is the Columbia, which 
rises in the Rocky Mountains, in latitude 50° north, and 
longitude 116° west; and during its course to the ocean, 
receives a great number of large tributary streams. After 
receiving Canoe River, and flowing in a southwesterly 
direction, and expanding into a line of lakes ; it receives 
at Fort Colville, the River Colville, which rises in the 
Rocky Mountains, and takes a northwesterly direction. 
At Colvill§, it is two thousand five hundred feet above the 
level of the sea. To the south of this, it winds to the 
westward, receiving the Spokan River from the east. 
Thence it pursues a westerly course for about sixty 
miles ; and at its bend to the south, it is joined by the 
Okanagan — a river that has its source in a line of lakes, 
affording boat-navigation for a considerable extent north- 
ward. Thence it passes to the southward, until it reaches 



144 OREGON TERRITOr.Y. 

Wallawalla, in the latitude of 45^ ; receivin;^, among 
other streams, its great southeastern branch, the Snake 
River, called also the Saptin or Lewis River, which has 
its source in the Rocky Mountains. Though this latter 
river flov^'s a distance of five hundred miles, and brings a 
vast accession of water to the Columbia, yet, from its nu- 
merous shallows, rapids, and eddies, it is not navigable 
for any continued extent. At Wallawalla, the Columbia 
is one thousand two hundred and eighty-six feet above 
the level of the sea, and about three thousand five hun- 
dred feet wide. It thence takes its last turn, to the west- 
ward, pursuing its rapid course for eighty miles, until it 
reaches the range of the Cascade Mountains. Through 
these it flows in a series of falls and rapids, that form in- 
surmountable barriers to the passage of boats during the 
floods. However, these difficulties are overcome by por- 
tages. From thence there is a still-water navigation, for 
forty miles ; when its course is again obstructed by rapids. 
Thence to the ocean — one hundred and twenty miles — it 
is navigable for vessels of twelve feet draught of water, 
at the lowest state of the river. In this part, it receives 
the Wallamette from the south, and the Cowlitze from 
the north. The former is navigable for small vessels, for 
twenty miles, to the mouth of the Klackamus ; the latter 
is navigable only for canoes and barges. 

The next river in importance is Frazer's River. It 
takes its rise in the Rocky Mountains, near the source of 
Canoe River, taking a northwest course of eighty miles. 
It then turns to the southward, receiving Stuart's River, 
which rises in a chain of lakes in the northern Jjoundary 
of the territory. It then pursues a southerly course ; and 
after receiving many tributaries, breaks through the Cas- 
cade range of hills, in a series of falls and rapids ; and 
after a westerly course of seventy miles, empties itself 
into the Gulf of Georgia, in latitude 49° 7' north. This 
latter portion is navigable for vessels that can pass its 



OREGON TERRITORY. 145 

bar drawing- ten feet of water. Its whole length is three 
hundred and fifty miles. 

The principal rivers are rapid, and sunk much below 
the level of the country, with perpendicular banks, speak- 
ing generally. During the seasons of the rise, they fre- 
quently overflow their banks, in consequence of bars, 
and other obstructions, and submerge the adjacent low 
grounds. These rises are produced by the rains, or the 
melting of the snow on the upper mountains ; and are 
sometimes very rapid. The rise in the Columbia takes 
place in May and June ; and at Vancouver is about 
twenty feet. The rise in the Wallamette takes place in 
February. 

There are numerous lakes scattered through the seve- 
ral sections. The country is all well watered ; and there 
are but few places where an abundance of water cannot 
be obtained, either from lakes, rivers, or springs. 

Climate, — The climate of the western division is mild 
throughout the year — neither the cold of winter, nor the 
heat of summer, predominating. The mean temperature 
is about 54°, Fahrenheit. The prevailing winds, in 
summer, are from the northward and westward ; and in 
winter, from the west, south, and southeast. The winter 
lasts from about November till March, generally speak- 
ing. During that time, there are frequent falls of rain, 
but not heavy. Snow seldom lies longer than a week on 
the ground. There are frosts so early as September ; but 
they are not severe, and do not continue long. The 
easterly winds are the coldest, as they come from across 
the mountains ; but they are not frequent. Fruit trees 
blossom early in April, in the neighbourhood of Nasqually 
and Vancouver ; and in the middle of May, peas are a 
foot high, and strawberries in full blossom : indeed, all 
fruits and vegetables are as early there as in England. 
The hills, though of great declivity, have a sward to their 
tops. Lieutenant Wilkes says, that out of one hundred 
13 



146 OREGON TERRITORY. 

and six days, seventy-six were fair, nineteen cloudy, and 
eleven rainy. 

The middle section is subject to droughts. During 
summer, the atmosphere is drier and warmer, and the 
winter colder, than in the western section : its extremes 
of heat and cold being greater and more frequent. How- 
ever, the air is pure and healthy ; the atmosphere, in 
summer, being cooled by the breezes that blow from the 
Pacific. 

The eastern section, which runs along the western 
base of the Rocky Mountains, and partly lies within 
their winding projections, is extremely variable in cli- 
mate : all the changes incident to spring, summer, au- 
tumn, and winter, being sometimes experienced there in 
a single day. 

Soil. — The soil of the western section varies from a 
deep black vegetable loam, to a light brown, loamy earth. 
The hills are generally basalt, stone, and slate. The sur- 
face is generally undulating, well watered, well wooded, 
and well adapted for agriculture and pasturage. The 
timber consists of pine, fir, spruce, oaks (white^and red), 
ash, arbutus, cedar, arbor-vitae, poplar, maple, willow, 
cherry, tew ; with underwoods of hazel and roses. All 
kinds of grain, wheat, rye, barley, oats, and peas, can be 
procured there in abundance. Various fruits, such as 
pears, a])ples, &c,, succeed there admirably ; and the dif- 
ferent vegetables produced in England yield there most 
abundant crops. 

The middle section, which is about one thousand feet 
above the level of the western, is not so well wooded or 
fertile ; yet in the southern parts of it, where the mis- 
sionaries have established settlements, they have raised 
excellent crops, and reared large stocks of cattle. Not- 
withstanding the occasional cold, their cattle are not 
housed, nor is- provender laid in for them in any quantity, 
the country being sufficiently supplied with fodder in the 



OREGON TERRITORY. 147 

natural hay that is every wlicre abundant in the prairies, 
which the cattle prefer. 

The eastern section, froin the coidncss of the climate 
and comparative sterility of the soil, which is much im- 
pregnated with salts, is but little adapted for cultivation. 
No attempts at agriculture have been made there, except 
at Fort Hall. Here, by care, small grains and vegetables 
have been produced in sufficient quantity to supply the 
wants of the post ; and the cattle, notwithstanding the 
severity of the climate, are found to tlirive well, and not 
to require Iiousing in winter. 

At Nasqually, the Hudson's Bay Company liave a farm 
which has been recently brought under cultivation. It 
yields fine crops of wheat, oats, potatoes, peas, &c. It is 
principally intended for a grazing and dairy farm. They 
have already one hundred milch cows, and make butter, 
«fcc., to supply the Russians. They have also brought 
another farm under cultivation at the Cowlitzc River, 
about thirty miles from the Columbia. This farm, in 
1841, produced seven thousand bushels of wheat. In 
this district several Canadians, and other British subjects, 
have established themselves ; — work small farms of about 
fifty acres, and live very comfortably. The Company 
have also other farms, at the different posts in the inte- 
rior, all of which are well stocked ; and the produce of 
the several farms is made a lucrative article of trads 
(after supplying the wants of their servants) with the 
Russians. They have also introduced large lierds and 
flocks from California ; and thus they are gradually cul- 
tivating the country, and civilizing the natives. 

Mr. Wilkes says, " In comparison with our own coun- 
try, I would say, that the labour necessary in this terri- 
tory to acquire wealth or subsistence is in the proportion 
of one to three ; or in other words, a man must work 
throughout the year tliree times as much in tiie United 
States to gain the like competency. The care of stock, 
which occupies so much time with us, requires no atten- 



148 OREGON TERRITORY. 

tion there ; and on the increase only a man might find 
support." He further says, " there will be also a demand 
for the timber of this country, at high prices, throughout 
the Pacific. The oak is well adapted for ship-timber, 
and abundance of ash, cedar, cypress, and arbor-vitsB, 
may be had for other purposes, — building, fuel, fencing, 
&c." He also adds, " no part of the world affords finer 
inland sounds, or a greater number of harbours, than are 
found within the Straits of Juan de Fuca, capable of re- 
ceiving the largest class of vessels, and without a danger 
in them which is not visible. From the rise and fall of 
the tides (eighteen feet) every facility is afforded for the 
erection of works for a great maritime nation. The 
country also affords as many sites for water powder as any 
other." 

On the northern coast there are a number of islands, 
which belong to the territory. The largest are Vancou- 
ver Island, which is two hundred and sixty miles long, 
and filly broad, containing fifteen thousand squares miles, 
and Queen Charlotte Island, which is one hundred and 
fifty miles long, and thirty broad, containing four thou- 
sand squares miles. The climate is mild and salubrious, 
and the soil well adapted to agriculture. They have also 
an abundance of fine fish in their waters. Coal, of a 
very good quality, is found there close by the surface ; 
and they also contain numerous veins of valuable mine- 
rals. 

All the rivers abound in salmon of the finest quality, 
which run twice a year, beginning in May and October, 
and appear inexhaustible. The Columbia produces the 
largest. The great fishery of this river is at the Dalles. 
The last one, on the northern branch of the Columbia, is 
near Colvillc, at the Kettle Falls ; though salmon are 
found above this both in the river and its tributaries. In 
Frazer's River the salmon are very numerous. The bays 
and inlets abound with several kinds of salmon, sturgeon, 
cod, carp, sole, flounders, perch, herring, and eels ; also 



OREGON TERRITORV. 149 

witli shell-fisli — crabs, oysters, &C, Whales and sea- 
otter in numbers are found along- the coast, and are fre- 
quently captured by the Indians in and at the mouth of 
the Straits of Juan de Fuca. 

Game abounds in the western section, such as elk, 
deer, antelopes, bears, wolves, foxes, musk-rats, martens. 
And in the spring- and fall the rivers are covered with 
geese, ducks, and other water-fowl. Towards the Rocky 
Mountains buffaloes are found in great numbers. 

From the advantages this country possesses it bids fair 
to have an extensive commerce, on advantageous terms, 
with most parts of the Pacific. It is well calculated to 
produce the following staple commodities — furs, salted 
beef and pork, fish, grain, flour, wool, hides, tallow, tim- 
ber, and coals ; and, in return for these — sugars, coffee, 
and other tropical productions, may be obtained at the 
Sandwich Islands. Advantages that, in time, must be- 
come of immense extent. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Astoria, or Fort George. 

As the Americans have vaunted much about tliis set- 
tlement at the mouth of the Columbia, I shall give its 
history briefly. 

Astoria, (now Fort George,) was founded in 1811 by 
Mr. Astor. This gentleman was a German, born near 
Heidelberg, on the b?.nks of the Rhine. His parents 
were humble agriculturalists. He quitted his native vil- 
lage ; and afler residing some time in London, went, as 
an adventurer, to the United States. There he met a 
countryman of his, who had some knowledge of the fur 
trade ; and by his recommendation he was induced to 
embark in this species of commercial enterprise. From 
13* 



150 OREGON TERRITORY. 

small beginnings, he gradually rose to considerable im- 
portance as a fur trader ; and became a bold and active 
speculator. It is unnecessary to detail the stages of his 
gradual progress and success ; but in 1 809 he obtained 
(after several ineffectual attempts had been made by the 
Americans, to secure a monopoly of this North-American 
trade) a charter from the legislature of the State of New 
York, incorporating a company, under the name of " The 
American Fur Company." He himself, however — ac- 
cording to his biographer, Washington Irving — in fact, 
constituted the company ; for though he had a board of 
directors, they were merely nominal. 

In 1811, he founded a settlement near the mouth of the 
river, which was called Astoria, his object being, accord- 
ing to Washington Irving, " to carry the fur trade across 
the Rocky Mountains, and sioeep the PaciJicJ'^ At this 
time he became naturalized, and was a citizen, from 
whose imtriotism, energy, and skill, much was expected 
for the assertion of American rights, and the promotion 
of American commerce. 

Mr. Astor's plans were certainly well conceived, for 
extending the trade inland by a line of stationary posts, 
and rambling parties, from the mouth of the Columbia to 
the confines of tlie United States ; and coastwise, from 
California to the Pole — in brief, of monopolizing the 
traffic of the whole northern continent. One part of his 
plan was, that a vessel laden with goods for the Indian 
trade, should every year sail from New York to the Co- 
lumbia, and, having discharged her cargo at the establish- 
ment there, take on board the produce of her year's trade, 
and thence proceed to Canton, bringing back the rich 
productions of China. Other ships were to be destined 
for New York and London, as no doubt was entertained, 
that all the British fur trading companies would be soon 
blown into thin air by this gigantic American project, 
and by the superior enterprise, skill, and integrity, of the 
free citizens I 



OREGON TERRITORY. 151 

Another part of the plan, Mr. Irving thus describes : — 
" As in extending the American trade along the coast to 
the northward, it might come into the vicinity of the 
Russian Fur Company, and produce a hostile rivalry ; it 
was part of the plan of Mr. Astor, to conciliate the good- 
will of that Company, by the most amicable and beneficial 
arrangements. The Russian establishment was chiefly 
dependent for its supplies on transient trading vessels 
from the United States. These vessels were often, how- 
ever, of more harm than advantage. Being owned by 
private adventurers, or casual voyagers, who cared only 
for the present profit, and had no interest in the perma- 
nent prosperity of the trade, they were reckless in their 
dealings with the natives, and made no scruple of supply- 
ing them with fire-arms. The Russian government had 
made representations to that of the United States, of these 
malpractices on the part of its citizens ; but as they did 
not infringe any murdcipal law, our governm-ent could 
not interfere." 

It is not necessary for me to fix attention here to the 
testimony borne by a reputable and patriotic, though re- 
luctant, witness, to the infamous mode of conducting 
business, adopted by the Americans, at least in those re- 
gions ; or to the curious fact, that a despotic and semi- 
barbarous government should have been constrained to 
make a remonstrance to a professedly free, and boastedly 
enlightened government, on the infraction by its citizens 
of the common principles of humane, honest, and liberal 
dealing. 

When the establishment was once founded, and the 
Company was in working order, the most extravagant 
reports were circulated, about the wealth to be found in 
Columbia by the new adventurers : not a moment, it was 
said, was to be lost, and consequently, many were lured 
to the enterprise. 

The first ship chartered by this Company was the Ton. 
quin, which sailed from New York in September, 1810, 



152 OREGON TERRITORY. 

commanded by Captain Thorn. There were on board a 
lew British subjects, going out to join the Company. But 
so inveterate was the anti-British spirit of the captain, 
that he treated them with every indignity, which led to 
constant quarrels during the voyage. On arriving at the 
Falkland Islands, some of the British went on shore. 
The captain, seeing this, gave orders to sail off; deter- 
mined to leave them to perish. But a Mr. Robert Stuart, 
nephew of one oftho.se gentlemen, who luckily remained 
on board, brought the citizen captain to a sense of humanity 
and justice, by holding a brace of pistols to his head, and 
threatening to blow out his brains, unless he took his 
uncle and his party on board. 

On arriving at the mouth of the Columbia, on the 23d 
of the following March, the captain, against all remon- 
strance, as it blew a stiff breeze, sent the chief mate and 
four men to sound the channel. These all perished. The 
captain, on the 25th, despatched one of the officers, 
accompanied by four men, in the jolly boat, to sound 
again. This boat was also wrecked, but two of the crew 
escaped miraculously. At last the ship, with great diffi- 
culty, was worked into Baker's Bay. In July, she was 
despatched on a coasting and trading excursion northward. 
Having anchored opposite Newettee, in the vicinity of 
Nootka, they commenced a brisk trade with the natives. 
But the captain, by showing a tyrannical disposition, and 
inflicting chastisement on one or two of the principal 
Indians, for some trifling oflence, their hostility and 
revenge became excited. The captain was warned, by 
his interpreter, and others, of the imprudence and danger 
of his conduct, but he spurned all advice, and did not 
relax from his stern conduct. 

In a day or two the natives, with a show of friendship, 
renewed the trade, and went on board in great numbers, 
carrying large quantities of furs, and wearing short fur- 
skin cloaks, contrary to their usual custom. He was 
again warned of danger ; and he again rejected all advice 



OREGON TERRITORY. 153 

— expressing his contempt of any attack made by half, 
naked savages against such a bold crew as his, who had 
plenty of cutlasses and fire-arms, ranged beloio deck. But 
he soon found that his arbitrary self-confidence was im- 
prudent, and that arms ready for use above deck were 
better than when stowed away below. The Indians 
began, from their growing crowds, and their conduct on 
board, to become troublesome ; and he ordered the deck 
to be speedily cleared. Then a loud lohoop was raised, 
and from beneath every short cloak was suddenly 
snatched some formidable weapon, and, before the arms 
could be procured fi-om below, the captain and the crew 
were slaughtered on deck, with the exception of three. 
These three contrived to escape from the ship in a boat, 
during the melee — having previously set a train to the 
powder-store. Soon after they quitted the ship, she blew 
up, and above two hundred of the principal savages 
perished with her. In the consternation produced by the 
explosion, among the crews of the numerous boats sta- 
tioned around the ship, they were enabled to reach shore, 
but being prevented, by the state of the weather, from 
getting into the ocean, they were compelled to try an 
overland journey to Astoria. However, in a couple of 
days they were all captured, and slaughtered. 

While these sad tidings reached the fort from the 
Pacific, other news of misadventure reached it from the 
interior. Their parties having been attacked by the In- 
dians, failed in either establishing settlements, or securing 
a profitable trade. Though Mr. Astor had a good head, 
and spirit for projecting boldly and extensively, he either 
did not adopt, or could not adopt, the means of securing 
an eflfective enginery to work out his large and complex 
plans. In short, to use a vulgar, though very expressive 
designation, his instruments were "a rum lot.'''' The 
rise of his Oregon speculation was marked by misconduct 
and disaster, and its fall was equally inglorious. 

This Company next chartered a ship, which had been 



154 OREGON TERRITORY. 

sent out from America the following year, " the Beaver," 
freif,'htcd with a rich cargo of furs, and other valuable 
commodities — the produce of the country — for China, 
neither expense nor pains iiaving' been spared to equip 
her so as to make a favourable impression on the Chinese. 
The Company hugged the sanguine hope tliat they had 
laid the foundation of a ])ermanent and lucrative trade 
with that people, and would soon, b}^ spreading the sphere 
of tljcir operations and settlements along the Pacific, out- 
rival the British in that market. But their high-blown 
expectations were dashed all at once, for the disastrous 
intelligence arrived that war had been declared between 
Great Britain and America, and that the British had 
blocked up the Beaver in tVie port of Canton, nay, more, 
that they had blocked up every foreign port against the 
Americans. The desperate state of their affairs was now 
evident. They could hope for no succour by sea — all 
expectation of return of profits by "the Beaver," to which 
they mainly trusted, was at an end. They had no com- 
munication with their fellow-countrymen overland, and 
even if they had, the delay in announcing their condition 
and receiving back supplies would be too great; their 
own resources were fast wasting away : but, above all, as 
the British flag had swept every sea— occupied every 
port — and penetrated every inlet, they were in daily 
apprehension of the arrival of a British force to capture 
and demolish their settlement, and seize on their persons 
and property. Their apprehensions were well-grounded, 
for the British government considered them as enemies, 
and despatched a sliip-of-war to take possession of Astoria. 
But they anticipated such a visit, and, before the arrival 
of the ship, had sold their establishment, whole stock in 
trade, implements, &,c., to the Northwest Company; some 
of the members having enlisted in the service of this 
Company, most of the rest having returned to the States. 
Thus the settlement was entirely broken up, and the only 
duty the commander had to perform on his arrival, was 
to change the name of Astoria into that of Fort George. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 155 



CHAPTER XV. 



Extension of the British to tlie north of the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia — Contrast between the British and American mode 
of trading — Cape Flattery — Native tribes — The country — 
Settlements at Nasqually and Covvlitze — Frazer's River. 

The extension of the Company's trade northward, along- 
the line of coast fi'om Cape Flattery, and their establish- 
ment of a chain of trading'-stations, coastwise and inland, 
became the necessary consequence of their mercantile 
importance, enterprise, and rivalry with the few American 
traders who hovered on those seas, and who, by intro- 
ducing a sort of buccaneering- commerce with the natives, 
tended much to the demoralization of the people, and 
tended but little, eventually, to the profit of tlic Americans 
themselves. These trading-stations, therefore, were not 
established more for the objects of trade, than they were 
for the purposes of civilization, and, while they have 
fully effected the first purpose, they arc g-radually and 
surely effecting- the other. The consequence is — what 
may be expected from the relative position and conduct 
of the parties — the Americans, who twenty years ago 
carried on an extensive trade with the natives (though it 
was not on their side conducted on the soundest prin- 
ciples of morality) and who had considerable traffic with 
tlie Russians in their positions beyond the 54th degree of 
latitude, arc now totally shut out from both. Wliercas 
tlie British, who have ever dealt liberally and honestly 
with the natives, have a monopoly of the native trade, 
:ind have entered into such a contract with the Russians 
lliat they may he said to have a monopoly of this trade 
as well. 

In the American mode of commerce with the natives 



156 OREGON TERRITORY. 

there was no unity of purpose — no communion of interest 
— no fraternity of feeling — no system — no guiding spirit 
to direct and control it; but it was a loose, dissipated, 
jealous sort of thing — jealous, not only of British rivalry, 
but even of American rivalry — and eager to grasp at any 
article of trade, however worthless, and by any means, 
however unworthy ; and hence losing the attainment of 
important objects. But the Company's mode of com- 
merce was the very reverse. It was conducted on the most 
judicious and most methodical principles, and was guided 
by one master spirit, which ruled it even in its minutest 
operations, and absolutely interdicted the practice of any 
effort that was repugnant to justice — knowing that this 
would eventually recoil on themselves, and thus, by their 
example, holding out, even to their opponents, a practical 
lesson. 

The Americans were not so much rivals of the Com- 
pany as they were of one another ; indeed they could 
never be said to be, in the strict sense of the word, rivals 
of the Company, for they had not the power, either as to 
capital, union, or sound notions of trade. I had many 
opportunities of witnessing this, when I was stationed on 
the northern posts, or employed in the Company's trading 
ships on that coast. Some of these maritime American 
traders, finding their own independent mode of trading a 
failure, have sold their ships to the Company, and enlisted 
in it as salaried servants or officers. I may mention one, 
— Capt. William M'Neil, of Boston, commander of the 
brig Lama. This gentleman has now, under the Com- 
pany's principle of giving promotion as the reward of 
merit, risen to the station of chief-trader. Indeed most 
of the American traders now feel it their interest, if not 
guided by any sentiment of humanity, and conscientious 
duty, to follow in the wake of the Company, — to imitate 
its honest and prudent mode of dealing, — to conciliate 
its good opinion by this imitation, and to establish among 
the natives the persuasion that the white men practise 



OREGON TERRITORY. 157 

what their religious men inculcate, i. e., honest discharge 
of the duties of this life, according to which there will be 
a commensurate reward hereafter. This is the invariable 
belief of the native tribes ; and, according as the white 
men swerve from or follow in practice this great maxim 
of religion — a maxim which is, they say, the foundation 
of the white man's theology — they despise and hate, or 
respect and trust them. While I would shrink from 
attributing to the Americans, as a great national com- 
munity of civilized men, the infamy of falsifying in prac- 
tice, their professions of humanity, justice, and freedom, 
yet I must, as the honest recorder of things as I have 
seen them, say that the American traders, taken in the ag- 
gregate, in the Oregon, have not either corresponded with 
those principles of religion which even their own mission- 
aries inculcate, or contributed much to raise the moral 
reputation of white men in the estimation of the natives. 
Their general conduct has come upon them with the re- 
tributive justice of its own reward. They are hated and 
distrusted by the natives, and have lost the great object of 
their cupidity — the trade. 

Along the coast to the northward, after leaving Colum- 
bia River, the next important point is Cape Flattery — the 
southern entrance to Juan de Fuca Straits. The natives 
inhabiting this part are the Clatset tribe. They have not 
been so much affected with the fever and ague as the 
Chinooks, and therefore are more numerous. Salmon, 
and all kinds of wild-fowl, are plentiful. The natives 
manufacture some of their blankets from the wool of the 
wild goat ; which is done with great neatness. The sea- 
otter is plentiful about these parts. The- mode usually 
adopted in killing it is this : the natives, or the half- 
breeds, who now adopt all the customs of the natives, row 
out to the parts frequented by this animal, whose habits 
resemble those of the seal. Two men manage the canoe, 
while a third stands ready : and the moment the otter 
rises to the surface he is unerringly shot. When he feels 
14 



158 OREGON TERRITORY. 

himself hit he dives, and the boatmen dart after him, well 
aware of the direetion he will take ; and keep pace with 
him until he rises again. Then, unless he floats a dead 
carcass, he is a second time shot, and the chase is re- 
newed, until he is at last killed. He is then hauled into 
the boat. Sometimes a sort of screen is erected on the 
shore, behind which the marksman lurks, and, wiien the 
animal comes to bask on the sands or the rocks, he is shot. 

The Clatset Indians disfigure themselves by running 
bone rings, and other ornaments, through the lower divi- 
sion of the nose, and flatten their heads similar to the 
Chinooks and the Indians of the lower Columbia, and 
exhibit all the leading characteristics. The country here 
is covered with pine trees. 

The south side of the straits from Cape Flattery takes 
a southeasterly direction. On the south side, and at some 
distance from the cape, there is a beautiful harbour, called 
New Dungeness. The country is high and woody, 
chiefly covered with pine trees. In the background 
there are very high mountains, the tops of which are com- 
pletely enveloped in snow. The land by the shore is lov/ 
and sandy, although high in the interior ; yet there are 
beautiful plains, apparently as if they had been cleared by 
hand, which yield excellent pasturage, and are capable of 
high cultivation. 

Further along the south shore there is another beautifizl 
harbour, called by commander Broiighton, Port Discovery ; 
and as a shelter for this harbour from the northwest v/inds 
there is an island close by, called Protection Island. The 
land on this part of the straits abounds with deer and 
wild-fowl, and the waters with fish. The shores round 
the harbour are low and sandy, in summer covered with 
bushes, growing all kinds of berries. The Indians are 
not numerous ; and, like the Chinooks, are rather dirty, 
the women bedaubing themselves with salmon oil, and 
vermilion clay. Besides these harbours there are several 
beautiful islands, at intervening distances, up the straits. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 159 

Tlic country in tlic neighbourliood of Port Discovery is 
moderately high, bounded on the west by mountains. 
The land, from the water-side, rises gradually ; and is 
generally considered good. The wood is chiefly hemlock, 
which grows to a great height, pine, poplar, oak, and ash. 

A few miles further up the straits, and from the north 
shore, there runs an inlet, called Admiralty Inlet. Up 
along this inlet, the country is beautiful ; displaying 
plains interspersed with trees. Vancouver says, " To 
describe the beauties of this region, will, on some future 
occasion, be a very grateful task to the pen of a skilful 
panegyrist." The Indians in this neighbourhood resemble 
the other southern tribes. 

Keeping along the straits, you approach Puget's Sound, 
running to the southward. Nearly at the southern ex- 
tremity of this Sound, the Company has stationed a fort, 
called Fort Nasqually. This place was governed by a 
Mr. Kitson, in my time : he formerly was a lieutenant in 
a Canadian regiment, during the last American war, and 
then obtained distinction. His wife was the daughter of 
the Red-head chief, M'Donnel ; about whose adventures 
many stories are told. This fort is surrounded by an ex- 
tensive prairie country. The Company has a large farm 
here, for growing wheat, and other kinds of grain, pota- 
toes, and all sorts of vegetables. They have also esta- 
blished there an extensive grazing farm, and sheep walk. 
The land is rather stony, but well adapted for a grazing 
farm. 

The Company's agricultural and grazing projects here, 
which are on a large scale, are every day extending and 
improving. Besides all this, an association has been 
formed, on a large scale, for the purpose of rearing sheep, 
and laying the commencement of an extensive foreign 
wool trade. I have recently had a communication from 
that country, respecting this settlement ; and the result is 
very satisfactory. The numerous flocks of sheep arc 
thriving admirably ; and there is every prospect of large 
exportations of wool, in a short time. 



160 OREGON TERRITORY. 

Some of the natives here live in the plains, and others 
on the banks of the Sound. Both these observe a marked 
aversion to mutual incorporation, and confine themselves 
to their distinct localities : the plain tribes not approach- 
ing the Sound ; and the tribes bordering on the Sound not 
extending their rovings into the plains. This is the 
general rule. Their habits and food are in conformity 
with their condition : the one are fishers — the other, 
hunters, living on roots, dried, pounded, and kneaded into 
cakes ; and on deer's flesh. AH this country, both mari- 
time and inland, abounds in all sorts of game — geese, 
ducks, plovers, partridges, &c. These are not only used 
for food ; but are bartered with the Company's servants, 
for articles of use and ornament ; such as blankets, to- 
bacco, ammunition, and trinkets. 

From this fort, to obviate the necessity of passing up 
the Sound, then westward along the Fuca Straits, and 
thence southward to the mouth of the Columbia, and 
crossing the bar in a vessel, there is a portage way across 
the land: the distance being about ninety miles from 
here to the banks of the Cowlitze River. This river runs 
from the northern interior into the Columbia, about forty- 
nine miles below Vancouver, in a southwesterly direction. 
At the end of this portage, on the river's banks, the re- 
tired servants of the Company are again numerously 
locating themselves, and forming an exclusively British 
settlement; as, at the Wallamette, the original settlers 
belonging to the Company's service were introduced on — 
and, in a great measure, swamped — by the Americans. 
This settlement is about eiglity miles from Vancouver, 
and ninety from Nasqually ; making it about one hundred 
and seventy miles by portage, from Nasqually to Van- 
couver. It promises great success. The settlers all 
fraternise with each other — are experienced and enter- 
prising men — are well acquainted with the whole region 
of the Oregon, throughout its length and breadth — are 
attached to the interests of the Company — and are proud, 



OREGON TERRITORY. IGI 

and tranquil, every man of them, in living- under the 
secure and unchangeable protection of British power, and 
British laws. 

The first settlers were two Canadians, Fancault and 
Plomondeau, active and enterprising- men belonging to the 
Company. Their contracts having expired, and they 
wishing to become farmers, were encouraged by Dr. 
M'Loughlin in their project to settle on the banks of the 
Cowlitze, rather than on the Wallamette ; as in this place 
they were more likely to be under the exclusive protection 
of the Company. They were first rate axe-men, capable, 
each, of cutting the astonishing quantity of six cords of 
wood per day with ease. They were, while in the Com- 
pany's service, overseers of the men employed in the 
erection of the wooden forts throughout the district. I 
mention their names, as the meritorious founders of a 
community, which promises so much prosperity, deserve 
to be recorded. 

Frazer's River rises in the Rocky Mountains, between 
latitudes 55^ and 56^ north, near the source of Canoe 
River (which is the first large tributary of the Columbia, 
after the latter issues from its source ; and at first runs 
about northwest for a distance of about eighty miles. It 
then takes a southern direction, receiving the waters of 
Stuart's River, which rises in one of the chains of lakes 
that abound in New Caledonia. It continues its southern 
course by west, receiving the waters of the Chilcotin, 
Pinklitsa, and several other minor rivers flowing from 
the lakes or hills of the west ; and also the waters of 
Thompson's River, Quisneli's River, and others which 
flow into it from the east. In parallel 49^ it breaks 
through the Cascade range of mountains in a succession 
of falls and rapids, and, running westward about seventy 
miles, is emptied into the Gulf of Georgia, in 49° 07' 
north. During this latter part of its course, for about 
seventy miles, it is navigable for vessels, afl;er passing its 
bar, that draw twelve feet of water. Its whole lengtli is 
14* 



162 OREGON TERRITORY. 

about four hundred miles. The country along its lower 
section is hilly, and covered with forests of white pine, 
cedar, and other evergreen trees ; and the soil is, gene- 
rally, well fitted for pasturage, and, in many places, for 
tillage. But along the other, and more southern, sections, 
the country is more ungenial and unproductive ; being 
cut up by mountains, ravines, torrents, lakes, and marshes. 
Yet it is well wooded ; yielding all the varieties of trees 
growing in that region — fir, spruce, pine, poplar, willow, 
cedar, cypress, birch, and alder. 

The climate is very variable ; and the transitions are, 
though periodically regular, remarkably sudden, if not 
violent. During the spring, which lasts from April till 
June, the weather, und the face of the country, are de- 
lightful. In June, there are almost incessant rains, 
drifted furiously along by a strong south wind. In July 
and August, the heat is intense ; and the ground, previ- 
ously saturated with moisture, produces myriads of an- 
noying flies and insects. This heat, and glaring sun- 
shine, are succeeded, in September, by fogs of such pal- 
pable darkness, that, until noon, it is seldom possible to 
distinguish objects, at a longer distance than one hundred 
yards. In November, the winter sets in, speedily freezing 
the lakes and smaller rivers. The cold, however, is not 
so intense as might be imagined in such a country and 
climate. 

In the interior, and upper country, the Company have 
forts in different parts stretching from the forty-eighth 
degree of latitude to the fifty-eighth, and have formed 
numerous establishments. The following are the names 
of some of the principal forts. Okanagan, Thompson's 
Fort, Fort St. James, Fort Alexander, iM'Leod's Fort, 
Frazer's Fort. I should observe that Fort Langley is 
twenty miles from the river's mouth. Trees in this dis- 
trict are plentiful ; but in most parts provisions are 
scarce ; and at such an immense distance from Van- 
couver they cannot be carried in large quantities, the 



OREGON TERRITORY. 163 

transportation being by land and horses. Mr. Peter 
Skine Og-den is the governor of this vast district. The 
principal food is salmon and various other fish ; edible 
land animals and wild-fowl are scarce. 

The Gulf of Georgia is connected with Johnson's 
Straits, and divides Vancouver's Island from the main 
land. At the northeast end of the island there is a nu- 
merous tribe called the Coquilths. The beaver and sea- 
otter are plentiful, as well as the hallibut fish, deer, and 
game. 

I may here mention, that on my next expedition to this 
coast, in my former capacity of trader and interpreter — 
while Mr. Finlayson commanded as chief factor — in The 
Beaver, trading steamship, which anchored in this place, 
we made a very important discovery — a rich mine of coal 
near the surface. The cause of the discovery was as 
carious as the discovery itself was important. Some of 
the natives at Fort M'Louglilin having, on coming to the 
fort for traffic, observed coal burning in the furnace of 
the blacksmiths ; and in their natural spirit of curiosity 
made several inquiries about it ; they were told that it 
was the best kind of fuel ; and that it was brought over 
the great salt lake — six months' journey. They looked 
surprised; and, in spite of their habitual gravity, laughed 
and capered about. The servants of the fort were sur- 
prised at their unusual antics, and inquired the cause. 
The Indians explained, saying, that they had changed, 
in a great measure, their opinions of the white men, 
whom they thought endowed by the Great Spirit with 
the power of effecting great and useful objects ; as it was 
evident they were not then influenced by his wisdom, in 
bringing such a vast distance and at so much cost that 
hlack soft stone, which was in such abundance in their 
country. They then pointed out where it could be found 
of the richest quality close by the surface, rising in hil- 
locks, and requiring very little labour to dig it out. This 
intelligence having been reported at Vancouver, v»-e re- 



164 OREGON TERRITORY. 

ceived instructions to make the necessary inquiries and 
explorations. Mr. Finlayson with a part of the crew, 
went on shore, leaving- me in the ship, to conduct the 
trade ; and after some inquiries and a small distribution 
of rewards, found, from the natives, that the original ac- 
count given at Fort M'Louglilin was true. The coal 
turned out to be of excellent quality, running in exten- 
sive fields, and even in clumpy mounds, and most easily 
worked all along that part of the country. 

The natives were anxious that we should employ them 
to work the coal ; to this we consented, and agreed to 
give them a certain sum for each large box. The natives 
being so numerous, and labour so cheap, for us to attempt 
to work the coal would have been madness. They were 
greatly surprised when they first saw the steamboat, say- 
ing she could do any thing but speak ; and the white man 
must have been assisted in the work by the Great Spirit. 
The Company has, since I left the country, established a 
large cattle farm in this island. 

The country here, is, in point of beautiful scenery and 
fertility of the plains, although not so large, even supe- 
rior to the Wallamctte valley. It has beautiful runs of 
water, and clumps and groves of trees, of various kinds, 
scattered through the level lands — pine, oak, cedar, and 
spruce. 

A little further along the straits froai the Coquilths, 
and at the northern extremity of the island, is the Ne- 
wettee tribe. This tribe, which now is ratlier pacific in 
its character, and not physically powerful, has been re- 
duced to a skeleton of its former self, from the inroads of 
the savages who come from the northern and eastern con- 
tinent to kidnap them, when on tlieir fishing excursions, 
and then enslave them. 

Some years ago an American vessel, which drifted on 
shore in foul weather, and through bad pilotage, was cut 
off here by the natives ; and all hands were murdered, 
with tiie exception of the armourer and sail-maker. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 165 

These they spared, thinking- they would be of service to 
them. They compelled them to join in their war parties. 
One of them soon died. Should a vessel come in to trade, 
they would not allow the survivor to go on board. But 
after several 3'^ears had past in this miserable slavery, an 
American vessel came in to trade ; and the survivor ma- 
naged to make his condition known to the captain. The 
captain enticed several of the chiefs on board — placed 
them in safe keeping- ; and told them then, that unless 
they gave up the white man in their possession, he would 
run them up to the yard-arm. This intimidated them. 
The poor fellow was soon brought on board, to the great 
delight of the ship's company. 

The length of the gulf and straits from Point Mudge 
is upwards of one hundred miles. The channel, although 
narrow, is free from rocks and shoals, but in some parts a 
most tremendous current runs. The land, in some places, 
both on the main land and the island, is very lofty ; co- 
vered with pine-trees, actually growing out of hare rocks. 
The natives of this island amount in number to upwards 
of five thousand. Their houses are large, and are thus 
constructed. Immense logs are driven into the ground 
with large rafters, for the roof, placed in a slanting direc- 
tion. The roof is covered with immense cedar boards, 
split from cedar-trees with wooden wedges made from 
knots of trees, and the sides are of cedar likewise, with 
curious figures, resembling men and animals, fantasti- 
cally painted on them. Some of the principal houses will 
accommodate from two to three hundred people. 

The chiefs often, in the winter months, give feasts to 
their people. The food consists of dog, seal, and whale- 
blubber, with berries, &c. 

They manufacture blankets made from the inside bark 
of the cedar-tree. This is soaked in water for several 
days, then beaten between two pieces of bone. They set 
the thigh-bone of a deer, or a bone of similar size and 
strength, firmly, in a horizontal position, in a stand ; on 



166 OREGO.X TERRITORY. 

this they lay a large piece of bark, and keep beatinjj it 
until it becomes soft like hemp. It is then woven toge- 
ther, and dyed with various figures upon it. They make 
their dye from roots. The blanket takes two women ten 
days to complete. 

Gulls are very numerous about this place, as there are 
several rocky islets. Three or four of these lying near 
the north end of the island are called Scott's Islands. By 
going on shore in the months of June and July, in a short 
time bushels of eggs may be gathered on them. 

Nootka Sound is to the west side of Vancouver's Island, 
in the 49° of latitude. The Company's vessels seldom 
visit this place for traffic, as there is now scarcely any 
fur to be found there. The land is high and w-oody, 
principally covered with large pines. And the natives 
resemble the more southern tribes in tlieir customs, and 
general character. 

At Millbank Sound, in June, 1833, the Company com- 
menced building a fort, and were assisted by the crews 
of the vessels Dryad and Lama ; the former commanded 
by Captain Kipling, the latter by Captain M'Neil. The 
land-department was superintended by Mr. Donald Man- 
son, assisted by a Mr. Anderson, and myself; Mr. An- 
derson superintending the men. I had charge of tlie 
Indian-department ; and with a complement of between 
forty and fifty Canadians and Scotchmen, set actively to 
work. The point pitched upon, was a bay about twenty 
miles up the Sound, in latitude 52° 6'. When the men 
first went on shore, it was like entering an impenetrable 
forest. They had not been there long before the trees 
began to fall ; and in a few days a large open space 
showed itself. A place was soon cleared for tents to be 
pitched ; and in the course of a month or two suflicient 
ground was cleared for the erection of the pickets, or 
posts, which are eighteen feet high, placed close together, 
for the inclosure of the fort. These answer instead of 
brickwork. As soon as tlie enclosure was finished, Vv'e 



4 



OnEGON TERRITORY. 167 

despatched the brig Dryad to the southward, the Lama 
having' previously left. 

During the Dryad's stay witli us, our men nearly came 
to battle with the Indians. One of the sailors cutting 
wood, on shore, had his axe stolen ; and to obtain it, an- 
other of the men took a blanket from an Indian. This 
exasperated the natives ; and they gave their signal. 
The Indians then began to muster from all quarters, fur- 
nished with fire-arms, knives, and axes ; some of them 
taking position amongst the trees — others on the beach. 
Our land party being exposed to them, Mr. Manson 
thought it prudent to come to a parley ; and hostilities 
ceased. 

After the Dryad left, we pursued our work : the build- 
ing of the fort progressed with great vigour ; and during 
its erection, we pushed on a brisk trade in furs. I was 
appointed to the post of trader, acting under Mr. Manson, 
as governor of the fort. My instructions were to lower 
the price of skins ; give in payment useful, substantial, 
and lasting articles ; and endeavour to do away, if possi- 
ble, with the injurious and degrading article of spirits, as 
a medium of barter : as tlie American vessels had pre- 
viously been here, and had given immense prices, and 
sold spirits, so that the Company's vessels should be 
debarred from the whole trade. This exasperated the 
Indians against me ; and they gave me the name of 
» Shloapes" i. e., " stingy :" and when near them, if I 
should spit, they would run and try to take up the spittle 
in something ; for, according as they afterwards informed 
me, they intended to give it to their doctor or magician ; 
and he would charm my life away. But they were 
much disappointed to find me there for sixteen months 
afterwards. 

Every thing went on favourably until the month of 
October ; when, to our surprise, one of our men deserted 
and joined these savages. He was a Canadian. And, 
as we Avere given to understand that he was with one 



168 OREGON TERRITORY. 

of the tribes in the neighbourhood of the fort, called 
" Kyete's tribe" (Kycte being the chief's name — but 
nicknamed by an American captain, Boston), we sent for 
this chief: but previous, however, to this, we offered to 
give them blankets, ammunition, and other articles, if 
they would bring him back ; but to no purpose. We, 
therefore, knowing the value the natives set on their 
chief, detained him in the fort, thinking this would in- 
duce them to come to terms : and we informed them un- 
less our man was given up, we should send their chief to 
the governor at Vancouver. During this time we were 
living in the enclosure, which was not farther than ten 
feet from an impenetrable wood, in boarded, temporary 
houses and tents. The bastions were built, but we had 
not our big guns properly placed. Having so many men 
in the fort, our water became scarce ; and to get more, 
we were obliged to go one hundred and twenty yards 
from the barrier. 

On a particular day, seeing no Indians about, we pro- 
posed to allow some of the men to go out with buckets to 
get water. Mr. Anderson and myself went outside to 
see after them, while Mr. Manson kept a look-out within 
the enclosure, from a high temporary watch-tower. We 
had not been out many minutes, when, looking around 
the bay, and on a point of land about a quarter of a mile 
to the southward, we perceived a fire. At that instant, 
several Indians rose up — gave the war-whoop, and the 
fort was then surrounded with himdreds of these savages, 

some armed with knives, others with guns and axes. 

Mr. Manson cried out, to arms. Mr. Anderson and my- 
self rushed as fast as possible to the fort, and then to the 
bastions ; from whence we commenced firing, along with 
the men that remained in tlic fort. This threw the In- 
dians into confusion, and made them retreat, with some 
loss of life, into the woods. The whole of our outside men 
escaped unhurt into the fort, with the exception of two. 
One of these was a half-breed, who was surrounded by 



OREGON TERRITORY. 1 69 

eig-ht Indians. He was cut in the shoulder severely by 
an axe aimed at his head; after this blow he managed to 
wrest the axe from the Indian, and keep his assailants at 
bay ; but another Indian coming up with a gun, was in 
the act of shooting him, when Mr. Anderson rushed to 
the fort-gate, and, with his rifle, shot the Indian. The 
others decamped, and the half-breed made his way into 
the fort. The other, a Canadian, had, before the dis- 
turbance, fallen down, with an axe in his hand, which 
had injured him. This man they took prisoner ; dragging 
him, face downwards, to the water-side, and placed him, 
tied hands and feet, in a canoe ; it being that night their 
full intention, had we not their chief in custody, to have 
burned him. During the night they kept up a con- 
tinual whoop and firing of guns ; bat kept a long distance 
from the fort, fearing we should get our big guns to bear 
\ipon them. Having this poor fellow in their possession 
all night, they brought him in the morning under the 
fort, and announced a desire to speak to us : and finding 
their chief was safe, said if we would give their chief 
freedom they would return our man. The deserter they 
persisted they knew nothing of. Finding we could not 
get back the deserter, we proposed to give them their 
chief, provided our man, whom they had taken prisoner, 
was returned ; and likewise we proposed that they should 
give us two inferior chiefs as hostages. This was done 
for a guarantee, to prevent any of our men from being 
attacked by them, in case they were compelled to go out 
of the fort. This was agreed to. The chief having been 
let free, our Canadian returned next morning ; and the 
two Indians were kept as hostages to insure safety to 
our men on quitting the fort for business. The Indians 
requested us to hoist our flag, as a signal of peace. They 
informed us, that one or two Indians had been wounded 
in the previous conflict, and wished to know if they 
came, since peace had been proclaimed, whether we 
would dress their wounds ; to this also we willingly con- 
15 



170 OREGON' TERRITORY. 

sented, and the patients were restored quite recovered. 
This conduct on our part, in receiving and healing their 
"svounded, made a very favourable impression on them t 
and they exhibited every pacific disposition. We kept, 
however, within the fort for several weeks, until their 
vindictive feeling would completely have cooled down : 
and by that time we became mutual friends. Trade then 
again commenced at a brisk rate ; and we went on build- 
ing and clearing ground as usual, for the completion of 
the fort, and the preparation of our little farm. As I 
began to speak their language, so I increased in favour 
v^ith them. 

These Indians diiFer greatly from the southern tribes 
in the prominence of their countenances and the regu- 
larity of their features, thus resembling the northern 
Europeans. They are rather dirty, using quantities of 
oil for the hair, and daub their faces with vermilion : this 
they use from their infancy. The shores here are high, 
and covered with trees. A little way in the interior are 
patches of plains, but rocky and covered with short grass 
and moss. In the neighbourhood, the wood consists of 
pine, hemlock, cedar, spruce, small fruit, crab, birch, and 
various kinds of berry bushes. The Indians arc nume- 
rous, and divided into three different tribes. The chiefs 
are Wacash, Oyellow, and Kyete. Haliibut and salmon 
abound here — the salmon far inferior, and much smaller 
than the Columbia salmon — herrings, too, are found there 
in abundance : the spawn is gathered by the natives, and 
dried on sea-leaves for their winter provision. They like- 
wise take the tender rind from the inside of the hemlock 
tree, and pound it into cakes, which they dry in the sun. 
The salmon is split down the back, and smoked, and 
dried for winter. Blankets are made, by the women, 
from cedar bark, in the same way as those made by the 
Coquilths, already mentioned. They have several vil- 
lages that they shift to at different seasons of the year. 
Their winter villages are strong built houses, particularly 



OREGON- TERRITORY. 171 

those belonging to the cliiefs. Here, as well as in John- 
son's Straits, the chiefs entertain, at a public feast, the 
members of their several tribes. At these feasts the men 
sit on benches ranged on one side, near the wall, and the 
women arc ranged opposite them. They also give public 
entertainments to the chiefs of the more inland tribes. 

In their marriages, the Indian taking a wife, generally 
makes her friends presents, — a war canoe, dressed elk 
skins, beaver skins, and English goods, such as blankets, 
ammunition, &.c-, receiving presents from her friends in 
return. On the wedding-da}^ they have a public feast, 
at which they dance and sing, sometimes in separate 
groups, sometimes all dance and sing together — men and 
women. In their singing, which is a sort of irregular 
chaunt, they ail keep to the same key, and therefore it is 
not easy to distinguish any individual excellence among 
them. In their dances they throw their bodies into a 
variety of fantastic attitudes, and move their hands, 
keeping time to the music. On these occasions they are 
decked off in their best dresses and ornaments. They 
have one curious custom in their dances : at stated 
periods, they keep puffing from a painted tube, one end 
of which is inserted in the mouth, the other pointed up- 
wards, quantities of fine down, which flies about their 
heads, presenting the imitation of a snow shower. 

In the winter months these, as well as the neighbour- 
ing tribes, assemble in great numbers in the chief's 
house, for the purpose of witnessing the chief imitate 
different spirits, whom they are supposed to worship. 
He puts on, at intervals, different dresses, and large 
masks, of different kinds, entirely covering his head and 
neck- The masks are made to open the mouth and eyes 
by means of secret springs, invisible to the spectators, 
and different noises are sent forth. He dresses for each 
character behind a large curtain, drawn quite across the 
room, like the drop curtain in a theatre, and then comes 
forth, and stands on a sort of stage in front of it, while 



172 ORBGON TERRITORY. 

the spectators are ranged on benches placed along the 
side-walls. In one of his characters he imitates the 
rising sun, which they believe to be a shining man, wear- 
ing a radiated crown, and continually walking round the 
earth, which is stationary. He wears, on this occasion, 
a most splendid dress of ermine, and other valuable furs, 
and a curiously constructed mask, set round with seals' 
whiskers, and feathers, which gradually expand like a 
fan ; and from the top of the mask swan-down is shaken 
out in great quantities, according as he moves his head. 
The expanding seals' bristles, and feathers represent the 
sun's rays, and the showers of down, rain and snow : the 
Indians chaunting at the same time, in regular order and 
in a low key, showing reverence, devotion, and awe. 

Sometimes the various divine personages are repre- 
sented by one man ; sometimes there are two or three 
personators on the stage all at once, representing different 
divinities. Our men were often invited to witness these 
religious exhibitions ; but the greatest silence, attention, 
and decorum were expected from them. Our attendance 
they considered a high compliment ; and they invariably 
made us presents, generally of skins, before we departed. 
One of our people, a half-breed, a funny volatile boy, son 
of IMr. Manson, used to imitate, on a sort of many-barred 
fife, the noise made by the sacerdotal chiefs on tlie stage. 
The Indians, when they used to come to the fort, and 
hear this, seemed much amazed, and often begged of me 
to check him. After the conclusion of tJie ceremony 
they have a feast, consisting generally of seals' and dogs* 
flesh, salmon, boiled and roast, and different kinds of 
berries. During the representation and tlie feast, there 
is a large wood-fire in the centre of the room. 

As 1 acquired a knowledge of tlieir language, I was 
admitted to much of their personal confidence, and soon 
became interpreter. 

There is one very remarkable peculiarity of their reli- 
gious customs which deserves to be noticed : and if I had 



OREGON TERRITORY. 173 

not personal evidence of its reality, I should be slow to 
bring myself to a belief of its actual existence. The 
chief, who is supposed to possess the "right divine" of 
governing, and to be the intermediate agent between the 
great solar spirit — the Creator and Supreme Ruler — and 
his creatures here below, retires at times, whenever he 
fancies himself summoned by the divine call, from the 
tribe, without giving tliem any previous intimation of his 
mission ; and takes up his abode in the lonely woods and 
mountains, taking clandestinely with him a small stock 
of dried salmon for sustenance. When he is missed by 
his family, the report is spread abroad, and then it is 
known that he has gone to hold familiar converse with 
the Great Spirit, who will, within a short time, descend 
to give him an interview. Intelligence has then been 
procured, from the Indian who saw him last on that day, 
as to his route, and the district of the woods and hills to 
which he is likely to confine his wanderings ; and a 
sacred boundary line is drawn round this district, within 
which it is a crime of profanation to pass, on hunting or 
fishing excursions, on pain of death. Should any unlucky 
Indian even meet this compound of chief and priest in 
his excursions, he is sure to be put to death, either by the 
chief himself^ for he must be perfectly passive in the in- 
furiated chief's hands, or, should the chief in his ab- 
stracted mood not attack him, he must, on his return to 
the tribe, acknowledge the guilt, and resign himself a 
voluntary victim. Should he conceal the fact of his 
meeting the chief, and should the chief on his return charge 
him with the fact, then he would undergo the most shock- 
ing torture. The duration of the chief's absence on this 
mission is irregular — at least it is long enough to exhaust 
his small stock of food, even with the utmost economy. 
It is oflen three weeks. When hunger pinches him (and 
lie generally selects the most desert and dreary region, 
destitute of esculent fruits or roots) his imagination 
becomes inflamed, and what was before religion or super- 
15* 



174 OREGON TERRiTORV. 

stition, becomes now frenzy ; during which the fancied 
interview with the Great Spirit occurs. He returns at 
last to tlie village, the most hideous object in nature, 
with matted hair, shrunken cheeks, blood-shot eyes, and 
parched lips — his blanket, which is his sole covering, all 
hanging in shreds about him, torn by boughs and 
brambles — his face all begrimed with filth, animated with 
all the umiatural ferocity of a demoniac. His return is 
by night, and as uncertain as his departure. He does 
not first arrive generally at his own house, but rushes to 
some other, according to the blind caprice of his wild- 
ness, and instead of entering it by the door, he ascends 
the roof — ^tears off one of the cedar-board coverings, and 
plunges down into the centre of the family circle ; he 
then springs on one of tlie full-grown inmates, like a 
famished wolf — wrenches with his teeth a mouthful of 
his flesh, from his limbs or body, which he convulsively 
bolts down, without any process of mastication, but 
barely chopping the lump once or twice for the purpose 
of easier deglutition. No resistance is made, for the 
sufferer thinks that he has been ordered by the Great 
Spirit to yield up a part of his flesh and blood, as a sort of 
peace or sin offering to the priest. The chief then rushes 
to another house in the same way, and makes the same 
hurried repast. He continues this process along other 
houses ; until, in a few hours, he becomes exhausted, 
from the quantity of human living flesh that he has 
devoured. He is then taken home in a state of torpor, 
and thus remains, like an over-gorged beast of prey, for 
a couple of days. After his resuscitation he is languid 
and sickly, and, as he must not partake of the usual food 
for a certain time after he has got his fill of the human 
sacrifice, he goes on but slowly to convalescence. 

I have been, more than once, in close connexion with 
one of these chiefs, after his restoration ; and his breath 
was like an exhalation from a grave. The wounds in- 
flicted by his bite, though held as sacred trophies, often 



OREGON TERRITURV. 175 

proved mortal. Their mode of cure is this : — They apply 
eagle-down as a styptic to check the hemorrhage ; and 
then apply a plaster, made of pine-tree gum. Several of 
the wounded and consecrated persons, after we established 
our fort, finding their own mode of treatment ineffectual, 
came to our surgeon (applying to me first, as interpreter) 
to have their rankling sores healed. They used to pre- 
sent a most hideous appearance; being jagged and torn, 
and often showing the clear indentations of the human 
teeth ; and besides the fetor issuing from them was most 
noxious. The daughter of one of the chiefs (who practised 
this abomination), the wife of one of our men, told me 
that her father, on his return to the village, after his 
sojourn in the woods and mountains, inet an Indian, on 
whom he flew, and whose side he continued to bite and 
devour until his bowels protruded. The Indian made uo 
resistance ; and, when the chief ran off, he crawled to the 
village ; and though every effort was made to heal his 
wounds, tliey were found to be too mortal for human 
remedy. He died soon afterwards, in their idea, a con- 
secrated person. So much importance and pride do these 
Indians attach to these lacerations, that the youngsters, 
who have not had the good fortune to be thus scarred, 
apply lighted gunpowder to their limbs ; and use other 
means to produce a holy gash. 

An American vessel, some years previous to our visiting 
this place, was attacked by the natives, and part of the 
crew, as well as the captain, killed. About eight o'clock 
in the morning the vessel was boarded by some of the 
chiefs ; and numerous Indians mustered round the vessel 
in canoes showing quantities of furs. Most of the sailors 
were up aloft, loosing the sails to be aired. The chiefs 
called the captain to the gangway to look at the furs ; and 
while he was in the act of looking at them, one chief on 
each side of him plunged a knife in his side, after that 
they pitched him overboard. The women in the canoes 
cut him to pieces with their sharp paddles when he rose 



176 OREGON TERRITORY. 

to the surface. The natives, on this signal, rushed on 
deck, and a terrible conflict ensued. Alter many of the 
crew were slaughtered, with a great number of the 
savages, the remaining sailors contrived to slip the anchor 
and sail oiF to the northward. They were picked up in a 
very crippled state, by another American ship, who 
atForded them every assistance, and enabled them to reach 
Boston. 

I often mentioned this shocking occurrence to the 
natives, with the object of sounding their dispositions and 
feelings. The general tenour of their remarks showed 
me that they regretted it as an imprudent act, which 
would recoil on themselves, by awakening the apprehen- 
sions of the white men, and urging them to a more 
guarded and less liberal mode of dealing ; — that they con- 
sidered it, in the abstract, cruel and treacherous ; but then 
they used to palliate the act by strong insinuations that, 
as the class of white men to whom the ship belonged, had 
no great sympathy with them ; and indeed showed every 
disposition to cheat and harass them, there ought not to 
be raised such an outcry about the matter ; for sooner or 
later they should be obliged to fight in their own defence ; 
and that they then thought a favourable opportunity 
sliould not be lost. Kyete, the chief who gave the cap- 
tain his mortal blow on deck, often told me, that plunder 
w^as not their exclusive object ; but that he was induced, 
in a fit of rage, to strike the captain, when he found him 
exhibiting a dishonest and domineering disposition. He 
regretted, he said, the occurrence deeply ; and it would 
never have occurred, he was sure, if the ship belonged to 
the great Company ; for the Company would not wish to 
rob the Indians, as the captain intended. And he used to 
appeal to me, whether I did not think, that, from the eon- 
duct of the tribe to us, our whole crew would be safe 
(even if the ship were left unguarded to swing at anchor) 
before one of his remote villages. I used to give him a 
reply of general consolation and civility, without express- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 177 

ing any decided opinion of the matter. I certainly had 
no fear of a similar attack, for three good reasons : we 
were too much on ihe alert; we dealt liberally and 
honestly with them ; and the generally believed power of 
the Company was a tower of strength. 

I often conversed with these people on the cardinal 
points of religion ; and they always seemed glad to hear 
the subject. They used to say, we know the Great Spirit 
is good, and that he made us and the world; — that the 
evil spirit is bad, and has hoofs and horns ; and that the 
bad will be punished hereafter. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Fort M'Loughlin — Voyage from it all along the inlricale inlets 
or canals — Various tribes — tlieir appearance, and customs. 

Fort M'Loughlin is about one hundred and twenty 
yards square, having two bastions standing at right 
angles ; in each of these are four nine-pound guns, with 
a quantity of small arms, ready for action. It is sur- 
rounded with pickets, i. e., trees, cut eighteen feet long, 
where no branches have run out, and about twenty-four 
inches in circumference. These pickets are mortised 
into a large square log placed firmly in the earth. The 
pickets are placed so close together that they cannot even 
be seen through. There are double gates at the entrance, 
with a small wicket gate in them. At the top of the 
pickets there is another large log, into which the pickets 
are mortised, and at the top are placed long spikes. In- 
side the fort, round the pickets, and about four feet and a 
half from the top, is a gallery run round the fort. Here 
a watchman is continually kept on the look-out, and a 
one-pound swivel placed over the gate : this protects the 
gateway. On the inside of the gate, on entering the fort, 



178 OREGON TERRITORY. 

stands the Indian hall. A certain number of Indians arc 
only allowed to enter for trade at a time ; this hall is in- 
tended for them to wait in until they trade. Another man 
is constantly kept at the gate to let the Indians in and out. 
Adjoining the hall are the trader's house, and a house for the 
officer in charge of the men. On the lefl, on entering the 
fort, is the Indian shop and store, for the Indians to trade, 
and the trader's outfit. Adjoining this is a place for 
holding provisions traded from the natives, such as deer, 
hallibut, salmon, and wild-fowl. On the right-hand side 
of the fort is a long building, divided into rooms, for the 
men. At the end of this is a very neat house, part of 
which is converted into a mess-room. At the further end 
of the fort, fronting the entrance, is Mr. Manson's house, 
divided into several rooms, all of which are very neat and 
compact. On the left of the fort is a long warehouse for 
the reception of the general outfit which is sent once a 
year, by a vessel, from Vancouver. There are other small 
buildings, such as the blacksmith's shop, and carpenter's 
shop, and the kitchen, to which are attached the cook's 
and steward's rooms. The Indians arc all kept near the 
gate and Indian hall ; they are not allowed to enter the 
fort square, with the exception of the chiefs. These arc 
sometimes allowed to visit the governor's house, where 
they get some biscuit and molasses and a little weak 
spirits and water. The Indians generally behave them- 
selves very v/ell, when inside the fort ; but as they are 
much addicted to thieving (at which they are most ex- 
pert), we kept a constant watch over them. But all our 
vigilance was often futile. I have knov.'n vessels when 
lying in the neighbourhood of this place trading, to have 
been pilfered of both canister-shot and powder, taken out 
of the big guns. 

Having quitted Fort M'Loughlin in 1834, in the brig 
Dryad, I returned to the Columbia, and was there sta- 
tioned till the middle of 1836 ; having passed some time 
at Fort Vancouver, and been stationed at Fort George as 



OREGON TERRITORY. 179 

superintendent. I then returned to Fort M'Loughlin, in 
the " Beaver" steamer, in the character of trader and 
interpreter, and was happy once more in the society of its 
first governor, — my old friend Mr. Manson, than whom, 
I must say, there is not in the Company's service a more 
persevering, acute, zealous, and honourable, and therefore 
efficient, trader ; — feared and trusted by the natives, and 
esteemed by the servants. I am happy, too, in saying 
that he has had his long-merited reward, in official pro- 
motion, and in the Company's increased estimation of his 
excellent qualities. During the interval between my de- 
parture and return, I found that Mr. Manson, although 
reduced to a short complement of men, had made many 
great improvements at the settlement. A large tract of 
ground liad been cleared round the fort, where potatoes 
and other vegetables were growing. Several large build- 
ings had been erected inside the fort. The bastions were 
all complete, with the large nine-pounders staring us in 
the face. And the Indians were brought to a quiet and 
well-behaved course of conduct. No further disturbance 
had occurred in my absence. 

Chief factor Finlayson was on board the steamer with 
us, reconnoitring the coast ; Captain Hotne was com- 
mander, late of the East India service, Mr. Dodd chief 
officer. We had on board upwards of thirty hands. 

It was the intention of Mr. Finlayson, under whose in- 
structions all our scheme of proceeding was to be con- 
ducted, to push on along the numerous and intricate in- 
lets (that interlace the whole country) as far as possible 
inland, in order to come as much within reach of the 
interior tribes as possible. Therefore we ran into their 
uttermost extremities, along almost the whole of the laby- 
rinth; stopping sometimes to trade, and ascertain the 
capabilities of the country, and the character of the na- 
tives, who had never seen a large vessel (and especially a 
steamer) or a white man before. The country had the 
niain characteristics of that about Millbank Sound. 



180 OREGON TERRITORY. 

Some of the natives showed a flattened forehead, but not 
a compressed head. Indeed, generally, they are a well- 
featured and muscular race, but suspicious and rather 
treacherous. Along these inlets, many of which are the 
mouths of rivers, the tribes are clustered in villages, — 
especially towards the interior. 

At Fort M'Loughlin we took on board about twenty- 
six cords of wood, for fuel, which was ready cut for us ; 
this generally lasted us, when running on, between three 
and four days. From here we ran inland, up different 
inlets, called canals, which run out of Fitzhugh's Sound, 
a little to the southward of Fort M'Loughlin. Up these 
canals we proceeded about a day's voyage. The land 
along these canals is lofty, and covered with pine, appa- 
rently growing out of rocks. In some places these canals 
are clear running all through ; at other places the navi- 
gation is occasionally obstructed. 

About twelve at noon, on the second day, we reached 
a place called, by Vancouver, " Bentick's Arms" — inha- 
bited by a tribe of Indians — the Bella ghchoolas. Their 
village is near Salmon River; where Sir Alexander 
M'Kenzie came down from the interior, during his sur- 
vey, and, by observation, found he must be near the Pa- 
eific Ocean : and in case any vessel should run to this 
place to trade, he made a mark on a large rock ; which 
was partly distinguishable when we were there. He 
named this Salmon River, on account of the quantities 
of salmon he saw in it. Though we arrived in the sal- 
mon season, we could not prevail upon the natives to sell 
us one, unless cooked by themselves ; as they, as well as 
the Chinooks, and other tribes, fancy that cutting the sal- 
mon crossways " sends them away," and they will have 
none for their winter provisions. We traded numbers of 
furs from them, but nothing else. 

The land here is high ; as in other parts, entirely 
covered with trees — not a patch of clear land to be seen. 

We likewise visited another large tribe of Indians to 



OREGON TERRITORY. 181 

the seuthvvard, up a canal running' out of Johnson's 
Straits, far into the main land. We took, from Milbank, 
an Indian, as interpreter. It took us, from the straits, a 
day and a half to reach its extremity. The land along 
the shore was high and woody — completely covered with 
pine trees — not a patch of clear ground to be seen. The 
natives appeared to be milder-looking tribes than those 
nearer the ocean. It runs upwards of one hundred miles 
inland, from Fort M'Loughlin, in a southeasterly direc- 
tion. On running, with the steamboat, up this canal as 
far as possible, on the second day, we came to a stop — 
the water became shallow ; and we anchored in a small 
bay. Several natives came to us in canoes, and told us 
the village was up a small river, and entreated us to go 
thither : but our Indian interpreter wished us not. How- 
ever, the captain was anxious, and pressed me to accom- 
pany him ; to which I consented. We manned our 
whale-boat ; and we were well armed. No one had been 
up this place since Captain Vancouver's boats were up 
here, surveying; and the Indians, after we had been 
there a little time, began to muster in great numbers. 
We put ourselves on our guard, and set a regular watch 
to mark their manoeuvres. 

The village we visited was up a small shallow river, 
about two miles long, with scarcely water sufficient for 
our boat to go up. In this river, we fell in with two 
large canoes, on their way to the vessel. When we ar- 
rived within a quarter of a mile of the village, the In- 
dians flocked from the bush in great numbers, on to the 
banks of the river, armed with guns, and bows, and ar- 
rows. Seeing our boat full of men, and our musketoons 
fixed on the gunwale of the boat, they got an impression 
that we were coming to attack their village, and exhi- 
bited a hostile spirit. They understood a little of the 
Milbank tongue. I therefore gave them to understand 
that we were peaceably inclined, and had only come to 
trade with them, and to visit their village. Having 

16 



182 OREGON TERRITORY. 

eleven men in the boat, the captain, myself, and three 
men, went on shore to visit the houses ; leaving- six men 
in the boat, and giving them instructions to pull into the 
middle of the stream, and lie abreast of the village. The 
natives there appeared to be friendly towards us ; and 
made us presents of some skins and shells ; but expected 
something in return — which they got. They showed us 
different wooden idols, some resembling the dog — and 
some, men. The village was very large, and enclosed 
with pickets, about eight feet high. This was to pre- 
serve the village from being attacked by the interior 
tribes. I saw, on a tree, a small coffin, with a covering 
over it, and a human image, cut out of wood, and painted. 
They informed me that this was the corpse of a child 
that had been killed by their enemies when attacking 
their fort, some time before ; and they had placed it there 
with this idol by its side, as a memorial of their cruelty 
in slaying an innocent. Quantities of berries and dried 
salmon were stowed away in their houses for winter. 
There could not be less than from five hundred to six 
hundred Indians belonging to this village. The women 
seemed to be much afraid of us, as were also the children. 
I asked the reason ; and was informed that it was the 
first time they had ever seen a white man in their lives. 
They seemed anxious to detain us at the village as long 
as possible : but our men informed us that the water was 
fast falling; and that we should not, if we remained 
longer, be able to get back. I had no doubt that they 
wished to detain us, from some sinister design, until the 
tide had ebbed, so as to bar our departure : and we rowed 
off. On our arrival at the ship, our interpreter informed 
us that some of the Indians had been there, and said we 
should never return again. He (the interpreter) had 
been — we were informed by Mr. Dodd, the chief officer 
— a long way up the rigging, with the spy-glass, anxi- 
ously looking out for us. The officers, and likewise tiie 
men, were glad to see U8 heave in sight with the boat. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 183 

The country up the river, as far as the village, ap- 
peared low, covered with berry-bushes. Pine and alder 
appeared to be the principal wood. Tlie interior, I have 
not the slightest doubt, is a plain country. 

We sent our wood-cutters on shore at this place, and 
renewed our stock of wood ; the Indians assisting in 
carrying it to the beach, and bringing it alongside the 
vessel in their canoes ; for which we gave them some 
tobacco : and having procured what furs we could, we 
again run down the canal into Johnson's Straits — from 
thence along Fitzhughes's Sound to Fort M'Loughlin ; 
where we again took in our complement of wood, and 
ran for the northward, after leaving Milbank Sound. The 
entrance of Milbank Sound is by low rocks, and a rising 
land, called Cape Swain, and lies in latitude 52^ 13' ; the 
northwest point of entrance is Point Day, off which lie 
several rocky, barren islets. In passing, numerous seals, 
sea-elephants, and sea-lions, with other monsters of the 
deep, can be seen lying, when the sun is out, basking on 
the rocks. 

The Indians at the Milbank Sound, called Belbellahs, 
are very ingenious and imitative. They watched sharply 
all our proceedings, and gave us striking examples of 
their native talent. They promised to construct a steam- 
ship on the model of ours. We listened, and shook our 
heads incredulously ; but in a short time we found that 
they had felled a large tree, and were making the hull 
out of its scooped trunk. Some time after, this rude 
steamer appeared. She was from twenty to thirty feet 
long, all in one piece — a large tree hollowed out — re- 
sembling the model of our steamer. She was black, with 
painted ports, decked over ; and had paddles painted red, 
and Indians, under cover, to turn them round. The 
steersman was not seen. She was floated triumphantly, 
and went at the rate of three miles an hour. They 
thought they had nearly come up to the point of external 
structure : but then the enginery baffled them ; and tliis 



184 OREGON TERRITORY. 

they thought they could imitate in time, by perseverance, 
and the helping illumination of the Great Spirit. 

They bury their dead amongst rocks, placing in their 
coffins, as the Chinooks do, articles for their use in the 
next world. They believe, that after they are dead, they 
are taken in a canoe along a dark lake, for a long dis- 
tance ; and then come to large gates. These gates are 
opened as they approach. There are, beyond these, two 
rivers — one branching to the right ; the other, to the left. 
If they have done good, and not committed murder, they 
will go to the right ; where there is salmon in abundance, 
berries of all sorts growing continually, and the sun 
always shining. On the left, there is continual snow 
and frost, misery, and starvation. 

These Indians deal in slaves, purchased from the 
southern tribes — the original kidnappers — and then sell 
them, at a profit, to the northern tribes, who come down 
to purchase them. A full-grown, athletic slave, who is a 
good hunter, will fetch nine blankets, a gun, a quantity 
of powder and ball, a couple of dressed elk-skins, tobacco, 
vermilion paint, a flat file, and other little articles. 

After leaving Point Day, and taking a northerly course, 
instead of going out into the open ocean, the Company's 
vessels generally keep inland, along the canals De Larado 
and Delprincipe. The country along these canals is in- 
habited by a numerous tribe of Indians, called the Sebas- 
sa tribe ; differing in many points from the more southern 
tribes. They are more active and enterprising than the 
Milbank tribes, but the greatest thieves and robbers on 
the coast. They are scattered about along the canals, 
but the principal residence of the chief is either at Land- 
Otter Harbour, or Seal Harbour. In each of these har- 
bours there is good anchorage for vessels. 

They build their villages, chiefly, upon high and pre- 
cipitous rocky islands, or promontories ; having steps cut 
down to the water. This is done to prevent any sudden 
attack from an enemy. The chief, Sebassa, has twenty 



OREGON TERRITORY. 185 

wives, and numerous slaves ; and is accounted to be one 
of the w^ealthiest on the coast. They go in bands, in 
their canoes, to the southward, and, unawares, kidnap 
the Indians, when out fishing, or gathering berries. 
These are then taken inland, and traded as slaves. Some 
of these Indians, from their trading intercourse with the 
British and American ships, speak a little English. They 
bring large quantities of various kinds of fur-skins for 
barter — beaver, bear, raccoon, otter, fox, seal. Their food, 
and manner of living, resemble the Milbank tribe. They 
give feasts and dances ; and Iiave religious ceremonies, 
and religious masquerades, or theatrical representations, 
similar to those of the Nootka Sound tribes. The shores 
are high and rocky, covered with pine and cedar-trees. 
The natives are great gamblers ; and, as well as the more 
southern tribes, resemble the Chinooks in their games. 
The seal arc numerous ; and are eitlier shot, when lying 
on the rocks, or most dexterously speared, when floating, 
in the same manner as a wliale. 

One day, running along these canals, we had on board 
one of these Indians, to show us the different harbours ; 
but it became very foggy, so that we could scarcely see 
the ship's length before us. The Indian, having a large 
hat on, resembling the top of a small parasol, made of 
the twisted fibres of the roots of trees, with an aperture 
in the inside, at the broader end, to fit his head. He 
stood upon the quarter-deck — took off his hat — and in- 
formed me that he intended to charm the fog away ; for 
which I was to give him some tobacco. To this I con- 
sented. He murmured some few words ; and with his 
hand, pretended to gather the fog into his hat. He then, 
all of a sudden, dropped his hat on the deck, as if he had 
something in it; and, after holding it, mouth down, for 
some minutes, and murmuring some more words, in- 
formed me that the fog would soon be gone. The fog, in 
about half an hour, did happen to clear away fast. He 
then assumed a proud and self-confident air ; and assured 
16* 



186 OREGON TERRITORY. 

US that it was all the work of his " conjuration and 
mighty magic." I saw no necessity for offending or 
provoking him by any expression or sign of dissent or 
incredulity ; as we were in a great degree under his 
guidance, in those intricate and narrow guts. Of course 
the fellow, from his knowledge of the climate and the 
locality, was weather-wise ; and could tell the appear- 
ance and disappearance of those periodical fogs. I gave 
him his tobacco, and a little more, with which he was 
highly pleased. 

The only covering the men have, is a large blanket 
thrown round their bodies. The women have a loose, 
figured calico shirt over them, with a piece of coarse 
cloth thrown across their shoulders — the calico having 
lately superseded the former skins. Both male and 
female daub themselves over with vermilion. They wear 
large rings through the nose ; some of these rings being 
bone — others, silver ; made by themselves, from dollars 
purchased from American traders. As ornaments for 
their wrists, they have bracelets, made from brass wire. 
Their hair is very long ; for which they use a great deal 
of seal and salmon oil. When a relation, or parent, dies, 
they put themselves in mourning, by cutting the hair 
quite close, and blacking the face and neck, for some 
months. Both men and women bore large holes through 
their ears ; from which they suspend red worsted threads, 
plaited and knotted, and hanging down about eight 
inches, instead of ear-rings. 

The old women disfigure themselves, by having a slit 
cut right through their lower lip, crosswise, from one end 
to the other. They then have a piece of hard wood, or 
bone, made the length of the cut ; rounded at the end, 
about two inches long, half an inch broad, and a quarter 
of an inch thick. Tliis is inserted in the slit, inside, be- 
tween the lip and gum ; making the lower lip project out 
about one inch beyond the upper. The sight is hideous. 
Our men used jocosely to say, this lower lip would make 



OREGON TERRITORV, 187 

a good slab to lay their trousers on, to be scrubbed. 
Shell-fish, of every kind, are plentiful. 

The general character of the country, as we proceeded 
northward, wore the same aspect — rocky, woody, and 
mountainous. From the 47° to the 54°, there is a com- 
plete net- work of inland navigation — sounds, bays, inlets, 
harbours — safe all through, for all vessels. This I can 
attest, as I have run through the whole course several 
times, by steam and sail. 



CHx\PTER XVII. 

Fort Simpson — The surrounding country ; and the various 
tribes. 

At tlie termination of the canals crossing Chatham 
Sound, is Fort Simpson, in latitude 54°, named after 
Mr. Simpson (now Sir George Simpson), of York Fac- 
tory, and governor of the whole of the Hudson's Bay 
Company's territory. This fort is situated near Point 
Wales, on a small island in the sound, opposite Dundas 
Island, and near the northern termination of the British 
territory. 

Fort Simpson is built after the model of most of the 
other forts. The governor is John Work, Esq., chief 
trader, an Irish gentleman, who has been for many years 
in the Hudson's Bay Company. Surrounding the fort, is 
a large and fruitful potato and vegetable garden. The 
officer conducting the Indian department is Mr. John 
Kennedy, a medical doctor, son of the late chief factor 
Kennedy, many years attached to the Hudson's Bay 
Company. The fort is built in a beautiful bay, with ex- 
cellent anchorage for shipping. 

The Indians are the Nass tribe, who are very numerous, 
and in customs and language resemble the Sabassa In- 



188 OREGON TERRITORY. 

dians, with whona they intermarry : indeed, both these 
tribes appear to be oftshoots from one parent stock. The 
principal cliief is Ilgeak, whom they designate by the 
title of Wil-aks Smoket, i. e., the mighty chief: and in 
truth, if a gigantic person, a stately air, a noble mien, a 
manly port, and all the characteristics of external dignity, 
with a symmetrical figure, and a perfect order of Euro- 
pean contour, would qualify any one for that title, he fully 
deserves it. Were he exhibited in London, with his 
harem, he would beat all exhibitions of American Indians 
out of the field. The whole race, generally speaking, are 
a fine body of men. But the old women adopt the shock- 
ing custom of slitting the lower lip, and inserting the 
piece of bone or wood. It seems that some preparation 
has been made for this in their youth : the young women 
have small holes bored through the lower lip, and a piece 
of round silver placed in it, projecting out about three- 
quarters of an inch. This aperture gradually grows 
wider with age ; and aflfords a facility for a final gash. 
They wear governs, made of calico. These are made loose, 
similar to a shirt ; but, to show their shape, they have 
stays, made of clotli, ornamented with pearl buttons. 
These are drawn round tliem quite tight. They also 
wear a blanket, thrown across their shoulders. Their 
hair is long, parted in front, and behind, is bound round 
with a piece of scarlet cloth, which hangs down like a tail. 
These northern tribes burn their dead, and deposit the 
aslies in a box, in a secluded spot in the woods. When a 
chief dies, he is, before interment, dressed up — his face 
painted — and placed sitting up, in a canoe, and paddled 
round the maritime village, looking almost like life. The 
magicians, or doctors, wear very long hair. They carry 
images of their gods and spirits in a box, which is kept 
sacred, and is scarcely ever seen by the vulgar. They 
have great power over the tribe ; and some of the Indians 
stand in great fear of them ; for if a doctor owes them a 
grudge, he will, they think, charm away their life. I 



OREGON TERRITORY. 189 

have been told by a doctor himself, that sometimes an In- 
dian's wife, sister, or daughter may die, and^ the Indian, 
supposing the doctor to have charmed away her life, will 
avenge himself on the doctor. Amongst the southern 
tribes, murders have been committed by the Indians on 
the doctors. 

The oil which they eat with the various kinds of dried 
fish, is made from sprats, and in the following manner. 
In the centre of their huts they have a fire, and a quantity 
of these fish are placed in a large square bucket with 
water : then hot stones are kept constantly thrown in 
amongst the fish, with a pair of wooden tongs. The oil 
rises to the top of the water, and a person is kept in at- 
tendance to skim it off. After standing until cold, it is 
quite white and tliick. They also make seal oil from the 
blubber. Quantities of deers' and goats' grease are traded 
from them. Bears' grease might be obtained here in abun- 
dance ; as the black and brown bear are numerous. Deer, 
and all kinds of wild-fowl, are also plentiful. The prin- 
cipal fur is the beaver, marten, sea-otter, land-otter, minx, 
cross-fox, and silver-fox, and squirrels. 

About the month of September, various tribes, who are 
friendly with the Nass Indians, visit the fort, and encamp 
around it : then the fort is surrounded with hundreds of 
Indians. The principal tribes visiting at this time, are 
the Tongarse, Kegarnie, Port Stewart, and Stikein. More 
northern tribes come from the Russian possessions ; and 
the Indians from Queen Charlotte's Island, called the 
Massets, Comshevi^ars, and Sketigets. At this time there 
are all kinds of dancing, singing, and feasting amongst 
them. Trade is kept up at a brisk rate at the fort, which 
is made in a manner a lively show booth. 

The Indians coming from distant parts to this fort, 
have large canoes, from thirty to fifty feet long, the pad- 
dles resembling those of the Chinooks, and are managed 
in the same manner. Besides containing numerous In- 
dians, their canoes are piled up with goods for barter. 
They remain mustered here for some weeks, making the 



]90 OREGON TERRITORY. 

fort a complete fair. It requires strict and good manage- 
ment, at this.time, by the Company's officers, to protect 
the fort. On landing at the fort, their canoes are piled up 
in large lieaps, covered over with mats, to keep the sun 
from cracking them. They bring provisions with them, 
to last during their stay and journey home. Feasts are 
given by the chiefs ; and invitations sent regularly round 
to the different guests. Should any of the officers of the 
Company be invited, stools are placed by the side of the 
fire, covered over with cloth and fine calico ; and they are 
introduced with great ceremony — the chiefs standing to 
receive them. Skins are given, as presents, to the officers; 
and, in the course of a day or two, the trader returns the 
compliment, by making them presents of British manu- 
factured clothing. 

After the various tribes have finished their trading 
speculations, and paid their various visits of friendship to 
one another, and the officers, they launch their canoes, 
laden with the return goods ; striking up an Indian voy- 
age song with great glee. 

The Indians inhabiting the vicinity of the fort are tall, 
well proportioned, and more active and cleanly than the 
southern tribes. The women are about the same height 
as the Chinooks, but much more cleanly, particularly the 
young women — all of them better clad ; wearing, as be- 
fore mentioned, a loose gown. They have slaves, who do 
the principal drudgery. These slaves, in barter, fetch a 
larger price to the northward than they do to the south ; 
and are sold by the Nass tribe to the various inland tribes, 
for furs. These furs they again sell to the white traders 
for blankets, and other articles of use or luxury. 

Numbers of the young men among the northern tribes 
speak broken English, picked up from the various Ameri- 
can vessels, that used to frequent these parts, and from the 
Company's servants. Amongst these tribes are numbers 
of American half-breeds, both men and women : some of 
the latter as fair as English females : some with light 
hair, and some few with quite red hair. 



OREGON TERRITORV. 191 

The country surrounding the fort is high and woody. 
The wood consists of pine, spruce, cedar, and cypress, 
with various runs of water, coming from the interior 
mountains. It abounds with deer, duck, and geese : lial- 
libut, sahnon, and herring. Berries, of all kinds, grow in 
abundance, which are gathered by the women, and dried 
for winter provisions. 

Their religion resembles that of the other tribes, who 
think the sun is the great ambulatory spirit, who makes 
his daily tour of inspection over the stationary earth ; and 
that the moon is his subordinate nocturnal watchman. 
On one occasion I explained to a chief that it was the 
earth that moved round, and not the sun. He said he 
always put faith in what I had previously told him, but 
never should any more, as I was only deceiving him. 

They are very much afraid of the small-pox, which, in 
1835, had made dreadful ravages amongst them — more 
amongst the families of the chiefs, than among the in- 
ferior classes ; perhaps because these did not lead so 
sedentary a life, and were not so highly fed. Most of the 
men employed by the Company here take wives, princi- 
pally from the Tongarse, and Kegarnie tribes; these 
being the most cleanly of all the Indians on the coast. 

Their dress resembles, for the most part, that of the 
Nass women, but is of finer texture — the cloak ornamented 
with pearl buttons — the stays outside the gown, of scarlet 
cloth, so as to show off the shape, similarly ornamented 
— silver rings through the nose, and on the fingers — 
several bracelets on the arms, and strings of braided silk 
depending from the ears. Both men and women have a 
handsome and regular expression of countenance : in 
complexion and contour resembling Europeans. This 
may be averred of most of the natives in these latitudes. 

During the time the opposition was kept up between 
the Company and the Americans on this coast, this tribe, 
as well as the other northern ones, used to designate the 
Aiaericans by the name of Boston fellow., — the British, 



192 OREGON TERRITORY. 

as King George fellow. And the old chief of this tribe, 
named Neoccote, often told me that he observed a small 
variation in phraseology, and even in pronunciation, be- 
tween the British and Americans, which he used thus to 
express : " small change 'em, speak 'em, king George 
fellow, Boston fellow ;" i. e., the Bostonians and British 
speak the same language, but with u small change. 

This old chief was very much attached to the British, 
and gave, as a legacy to Mr. Ogden, two beaver skins, 
stating that when he died he wished a coffin to be made, 
and to be buried in it after the Britisli fashion, and in 
their burying-ground near the fort, by the side of Lieu- 
tenant Simpson — a gentleman who was commander of 
the Company's shipping in the Oregon, and who was 
buried close to Fort Simpson. But as I had left that part 
of the country before his death, I did not hear whether 
his family allowed him to be buried as he wished, or 
whether he was placed in the woods amongst the dead 
remnants of his tribe. 

The principal harbour of Tongarse, which lies within 
the Russian territory, is round like a basin, with a sandy 
bottom, the soundings from eight to twenty fathoms. 
The land, for some distance, is low, interspersed with the 
usual sorts of wood found in these latitudes. The in- 
terior is dotted with small plains and lakes. The soil is 
good. Deer, salmon, with various other fish, as well as 
wild-fowl, abound here. This harbour is said to be the 
best on this part of the coast whence to obtain spars, and 
other wood, lor shipping. The Americans as well as the 
British, were prevented visiting these harbours for trade, 
as the Russians began to cast a jealous eye upon them, 
and set armed vessels in the various ports, which they 
called their territory, for the protection of their trade. 
Therefore the Company and the Americans had to con- 
fine themselves within the 54° of latitude. 

The Kegarnie tribe, also in the Russian territory, live 
on an immense island, called North Island. They re- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 193 

•5emble the Tongarse Indians, both men and women, in 
appearance, dress, and customs. The country is rocky, 
and highly covered with pine and spruce trees, and with 
a light pasture mould. Fish, seal, and berries constitute 
their principal food. Some of the Indians' teeth are 
actually w^orn down close to their gums, from continually 
eating hard dried salmon. There is a chief of this tribe 
who is a half-breed American, and goes by the name of 
George Bennett ; and is said to be a son of Captain Ben- 
nett, who was, many years ago, in charge of a vessel 
from Boston, trading on the coast. This young Bennett 
speaks English very well. I asked him if he would not 
like to go to America or England ? He answered " no !" 
as he considered we were slaves — even our chiefs — who 
were always doing something from necessity, and as we 
were always at work for a living. " I have slaves," said 
he, " who hunt for me — paddle me in my canoes, — and 
my wives to attend upon me. Why should I wish to 
leave ?" 

Although the jealousy of the Russians prevents the 
British entering their ports for trade, the Indians prefer 
trading with the British, therefore they travel for miles, 
with their large canoes laden with furs, to Fort Simpson. 

The Stikein tribe live much further north, approaching 
the chief Russian settlement of Sitka, at the top of 
Clarence's Straits, which run upwards of one hundred 
miles inland. These Indians speak the same tongue as 
the Tongarse, and are intermarried with them. Furs 
are numerous amongst them, and of a good quality. It 
is a mountainous country, some of the mountains con- 
tinually covered with snow. Here, as in other parts of 
the coast, the wood consists of pine, spruce, and cedar. 

A little to the northward of this there is a tribe called 
the Chilkasts. In their country great quantities of virgin 
copper are found. Some of it is worked by the natives 
into a kind of shield, about two feet and a half long, and 
one foot broad, with figures of men and animals engraved 

17 



194 OREGON TERRITORY. 

upon it. The labour and ingenuity expended in working- 
one of these shields, give them great value. One of them 
is estimated as worth nine slaves, and is transmitted as a 
precious heir-loom from father to son. 

Before leaving Fort Simpson, it may not be unin- 
teresting to give a sketch of a slight disturbance which 
originated tlirough one of the Indian women. During 
the time a large body of the Indians were encamped 
round the fort for trade, one of them, a Port Stewart In- 
dian, became jealous of his wife, who was a Tongarse. 
In his jealous fit lie beat his v/ife most tremendously. 
Her sister, who saw this, ran up with a clasp-knife in 
her liand — plunged it into the man's mouth, and cut his 
cheek close up to his car. He would eventually have 
bled to death, had not Dr. Kennedy of tlie fort, attended 
him. The woman fled. A regular feud was thus gene- 
rated, and the friends of both parties prepared for all the 
stratagems of barbarous revenge and warrare. A fellow- 
tribc-man, and particular friend of the wounded man, lay 
day and night in wait for the woman. This one of the 
v.-oman's friends and relations discovered, and he, too, lay 
in wait for the skulking assassin until he found him, and 
shot him dead. These accumulated wrongs stopped all 
avenues of peaceful negotiation, and war to the verj' pole 
of the battle oxc, was declared between the tribes. The 
Port Stewartites managed to come upon part of the Ton- 
garse tribe at night, near their village, and killed several. 
The Tongarse Indians, anxious then for peace, offered to 
make compensation, with slaves and blankets, to the dead 
man's friends, as well as for the "man injured in the 
mouth ;" this they readily accepted. But after this 
negotiation the Port Stewart Indians swerved from their 
contract, and fitted out anotlier war party to attack the 
village. But some of the Tongarse tribe being in the 
vvood, saw them, and roused the village. The enemy, 
seeing this unexpected resistance, tied. But the Tongarse 
Indians chased them, and, having found thirty of them 



OREGON TERRITORY. 195 

in a deep hole in the wood, surrounded with rocks, com 
menced a deadly fire upon them, and destroyed them as 
the Blackfcct would a herd of buffalo. Thus terminated 
the war at that time. But the Port Stewart tribe, when I 
left the country, were filled with revenge, and only wait- 
ing for their opportunity. 

Their houses are of the same construction as those of 
the Chinooks, but much larger. Their favourite dish is 
seal, but they most frequently feed off dried salmon and 
oil. The brown, black, and gray bear arc numerous in 
these northern parts, as are wolves, which, during the 
winter months, come near the fort, howling in hundreds, 
with their whelps, for hours. The Indian dogs resemble 
the wolf very much, having a sharp nose, and a long, 
bushy tail ; being a cross breed from the wolf, they are 
famous dogs for running deer down in the woods, and 
are often used by the Indians for that purpose — particu- 
larly in winter, v/hen the snow is on the ground, driving 
the deer from the woods on to the beach, Avhere the In- 
dians lie in wait, and shoot them. Their canoes are 
made from large trees, hollowed out, resembling those of 
the Chinooks, but larger. Every chief keeps an Indian 
on his establishment for making and repairing canoes, 
and making masks for his religious representations : this 
man they call their carpenter. Their covering consists 
of blankets except on state occasions ; then the chiefs 
have splendid dresses of prepared elk-skins, ornamented 
with porcupine quills, dyed in various colours produced 
from boiled roots. 

Mr. Peter Skein Ogden was the man who established 
the first fort amongst these northern tribes — who pitched 
his tent on a spot where white man never did before, and 
succeeded in bringing these savages into contact with 
the white man's customs — detached them from the pro- 
fligacy of American trading to the useful and civilizing 
intercourse with British merchants. He is descended 
from a most respectable and wealthy family in Montreal. 



196 OREGON TERRITORY. 

He was educated for the law ; but preferred enlisting in 
the Northwest Company and passing his days in the 
wilds of America ; where he has been almost from his 
youth. He is a man of great natural talent, humour, 
goodnature, and intelligence. He will entertain a host 
of friends by his amusing anecdotes. I should very 
much like to see issued from the press the " Memoirs of 
the eccentric Peter Skein Ogden," which would be 
amusing both to young and old — learned and unlearned. 
Queen Charlotte's Island is about one hundred and 
fifty miles long. The principal tribes upon it are the 
Sketigets, Massets, and Comshewars. These are nume- 
rous ; and have several half-breed Americans amongst 
them. They are expert thieves ; and will, if constant 
watch is not kept, when visiting the vessels, draw bolts, 
staples, nails, and other articles of iron, from the doors. 
Lead is a fancy article of theirs ; sometimes they will 
endeavour to cut it off the stem of a vessel. The only 
thing that keeps these, as well as the other northern 
tribes, in a little subjection, is the nine or twelve pound 
cannons staring them in the face. A great number of 
these Indians speak broken English. This island, as 
well as numerous other places, has never been examined; 
but samples of lead have been given by the Indians to 
some of the Company's servants. There are various 
minerals found here ; but it would require a large party 
of men to examine this island, as the Indians are treach- 
erous and sly. A soft kind of stone is found, resembling 
slate, which the Indians make into pipes, ornamented 
with various figures cut upon them resembling men and 
animals. From the flat file they make beautiful fluted 
daggers ; some eighteen inches long, as highly finished 
as if they had been turned out of a first-rate maker's 
hands in London. They likewise make hats from white 
roots of trees, neatly platted together, made into any 
shape. Their dress is not very dissimilar from that of 
the Tongarse tribe. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 197 

¥/hen a vessel visits these tribes, which is seldom, as 
fur is rather scarce (particularly beaver), and as land and 
sea otter, with a few small furs, are the only skins they 
have, and these not plentiful, they will congregate, as 
near the vessel as possible, and dance — throwing them- 
selves into different postures, and making all kinds of 
grimaces — having their faces highly painted ; and down 
ii-om the eagle completely covering their hair, with a 
kind of rattle in their hand, and a musical instrument 
resembling the tambourine. The dance is generally ac- 
companied with a song. Their houses are neatly con- 
structed, standing in a row ; having large images, cut out 
of wood, resembling idols. The dwellings have all paint- 
ed fronts, showing imitations of men and animals. At- 
tached to their houses, most of them have large potato 
gardens : this vegetable was first given to them by an 
American captain ; and is now grown in abundance, and 
traded by them to the vessels visiting their harbour, and 
to the traders at Fort Simpson. I have known from five 
to eight hundred bushels being traded in one season, from 
these Indians, at Fort Simpson. 

In the latter end of the year of 1834, the Hudson's 
Bay Company lost, on Rose Point, at the entrance of this 
harbour, a fine schooner, of about one hundred tons, 
commanded by Captain Duncan ; which drove upon the 
sands, on her beam ends. As it was found impossible to 
float her, and as the natives, who congregated in multi- 
tudes around Mr. Heath, the chief officer, and his men, 
while attempting to clear away the sand from her, were 
armed, and showed every disposition to pillage and mur- 
der, the crew quitted the wreck, at night, in the boats, 
and pulled for Fort Simpson. After several days of toil, 
and after some of the crew were frost-bitten, they, with 
hearts full of joy, reached the fort ; not knowing, on their 
journey, but that rounding every point of land they might 
be cut off from a volley fired by the treacherous Indians. 
Captain Duncan thought some other vessel might be at 
17* 



198 OREGON TERRITORY. 

the fort ; if so, he determined again to return, to secure 
the vessel and the cargo. But, no vessel being at the 
fort, the lost schooner was left to the savages. We after- 
wards learnt that their plot was laid ; and an attack was 
to have been made early the following morning. And in 
dividing the plunder amongst themselves, several quarrels 
originated, and numbers were killed. 

The Hudson's Bay Company judiciously let the matter 
rest, without chastising the natives, and gave orders that 
no proceedings were to be taken against them, but to 
allow the trade to proceed as usual. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Relative claims of Great Britain and America to the Oregon 
Territory considered. 

This subject has been already much discussed. A 
simple synopsis of the whole case may help to lead any 
right-minded, and dispassionate person to a just conclu- 
sion which of the contending claimants has the best 
right. 

It is universally allowed that the right of any state to 
the jurisdiction over a new country rests on three 
grounds : — 1st, prior discovery ; 2d, the taking formal 
possession after discovery; 3d, settlement; this ground 
being strengthened if the formal possession be continued 
by settlement. There is a corollary often appended to 
these, i. e., contiguity of territory. 

Now I tliink it will appear, to any sober mind, that, on 
each, and all of these grounds, the British claim is un- 
questionable. 1st, As to discovery. I shall mention only 
the chief navigators and explorers, avoiding all question- 
able and unimportant statements. 

In 1777, before the Americans had any existence as a 



OREGON TERRITORV. 199 

nation, Cooke, the Englishman, carefully explored the 
coast, as far as the forty-eighth degree : examined Nootka 
Sound ; and then proceeded on his tour of survey north- 
ward to the Arctic Ocean, until he ascertained that the 
continents of Asia and America were separated by a 
strait. This strait Beehring subsequently passed, not 
knowing, as Cooke did, its character and geographical 
relations. However, most unjustly, the strait has been 
named after Beehring. 

In 1787, Berkeley, the well known English navigator, 
explored the Strait of Fuca. 

In the same year, Dixon, an Englishman, explored 
Queen Charlotte's Island, calling it after his own ship's 
name. 

In 1788, Lieutenant Mears, R. N., who had long been 
engaged in the British trade in China, and was well con- 
versant with the multitudinous branches of the Pacific 
intersecting this part of the coast, took an accurate sur- 
vey of the Strait of Fuca and Nootka Sound ; taking for- 
mal possession of the circumjacent territory in his Britan- 
nic Majesty's name ; and established a factory, or trading 
post, at Nootka Sound. 

In 1792, 1793, and 1794, the celebrated English navi- 
gator Vancouver, being sent out by government, explored 
surveyed, and sounded the Strait of Fuca, to the head of 
Puget's Sound, and every mile of all the intricate wind- 
ings of this coast. It may be said, without exaggeration, 
that, in the world, there is not to be found a niore exten- 
sive and complex system of internal navigation. The 
labyrinth of bays, sounds, inlets, creeks, and harbours, — 
promontories, islands, and land tongues, with the countless 
sinuosities of land and water, show it to be a perfect net- 
work. 

In 1792, Broughton, Vancouver's lieutenant, command, 
ing another ship, explored the Columbia River, as far as 
one hundred miles upwards, taking possessio^i (and in his 
sovereign's name) of the whole coast, as British territory ; 
and gave their present name to several places. 



^00 OREGON TERRITORY. 

In 1793, M'Kenzic was, in his inland explorations, 
nobly co-operating with Vancouver, in furthering- the ob- 
ject of Great Britain. Perhaps, in the whole history of 
inland discovery, there is nothing- to surpass M']'i[enzie's 
amazing perseverance, courage, and sagacity. At a time 
when most of the northwest continent was totally un- 
known, and considered impassable, from the dreariness of 
the country, the destructive rigour of the climate, and the 
ferocity of the natives, he, a humble officer in the Hudson's 
Bay Compan}'^, conceived the daring project of traversing 
the whole continent, from ocean to ocean ; and not oniy 
conceived, but — executed it ! Having crossed the Rocky 
Mountains — whose existence was not before ascertained 
by civilized men, he descended part of the Tacoutche 
Tasse river and reached the Pacific, in latitude 52^ 3'. 

The other early explorers were the Spaniards — the prin- 
cipal of whom was Heccta. In 1775, he discovered the 
Columbia. In a Spanish map, printed a ijiw years after, 
the mouth of the river is called Entreda de Heceta, and 
Entreda di Assuncion ; and the river itself, Rio di San 
Roque : because he explored tlic lower parts of it on the 
fifteenth and sixteenth of August ; which are the festivals 
of the Assumption, and of St. Roch. 

Now as to the American discovery. Here is the history 
of it, as given by Washington Irving ; who puts the very 
best face on the matter for his countrymen : " Among the 
American ships which traded along the northwest coast, 
in 1792, was the Columbia, Captain Gray, of Boston. In 
the course of her voyage, she discovered the mouth of a 
large river, in latitude 46=' 19' north. Entering it, with 
some difficulty, on account of sand-bars, and breakers, 
she came to anchor in a spacious bay.... Captain Gray 
did not ascend the river fartlicr than the bay in question, 
which still bears his name. After putting to sea, he fell 
in with the celebrated discoverer, Vancouver, furnishing 
him with a chart, which he made of the river. Vancouver 
visited the river ; and his lieutenant, Broughton, explored 



OREGON TERRITORY. 201 

it by the aid of Captain Gray's chart ; ascending it up- 
wards of one hundred miles, until within view of a snowy 
mountain, to which he gave the name of Mount Hood, 
which it still retains. The existence of this river was 
known long before the visits of Gray and Vancouver ; but 
the information concerning it was vague and indefinite ; 
being gathered from the reports of Indians. It was 
spoken of, by travellers, as the Oregon, and as the great 
river of the west." 

Here it may be observed — 1st, that one of the especial 
objects of Vancouver's mission was to explore this river — 
which was well known to the English ; and which Eng- 
land, by previous treaty with Spain, had as good a right 
to settle on, as she had on the Thames, or Humber : the 
knowledge was not at all vague, but definite enough. Nor 
was this knowledge gathered from the reports of the In- 
dians, but from the published accounts, and maps, of 
Heceta's discovery. — 2d, that Gray was only a private 
speculating trader, dodging along that coast, bartering 
for furs. — 3d, that he never passed farther up than twelve 
miles, as he himself says. — 4th, that his object was not to 
explore or occupy. — 5th, that he did not explore ; for he 
remained in the river not more than ten days ; and, during 
this time, was weatherbound in the bay, where he took 
refuge ; and as to his chart, Vancouver, with a quiet 
sneer, says, " it was not much what it professed to be ;" 
and as to taking possession, this poor coaster never did it, 
or thought of it. 

In 1805-6, after, not merely the existence of the river, 
but its general course, and the adjacent localities, were 
well known to, and occupied by, British subjects, engaged 
in the fur trade, two American citizens, Lewis and Clarke, 
who had travelled overland across the Rocky Mountains, 
nearly on the parallel of the mouth of the Columbia, 
reached, by means of the southern branch, the parts of it 
already known. Their declared object was "to search 
for a water communication for the purposes of commerce." 



i}02 



OREGON TERRITORY. 



In 1811, Thompson, a scientific member of the Cana- 
dian Northwest Company, explored and surveyed the 
whole, from its source along its northern, which is its 
principal, branch, to its mouth. 

When Mears, in 1788, established his factory in Nootka 
Sound, and laid the foundation of a very extensive British 
trade along the coast, Spain, having many previous causes 
of jealousy against Great Britain, took this opportunity of 
evincing a hostile spirit ; and despatched Admiral Martinez 
to seize on the propert}'' of the settlers, and dispossess them. 
The British government took fire — demanded, and received 
satisfaction for this invasion of British rights, in a country 
to which Great Britain averred she had as strong a claim 
as Spain : and, in truth, a stronger claim, so far as ex- 
ploration and possession went. The consequence was, 
that a treaty — known as "the Convention of the Escurial," 
was signed between the two parties, in 1790 : the princi- 
pal provisions of which were — that the subjects of either 
state should not be molested in fishing, or in landing for 
the purpose of trading with the natives, or of establishing 
settlements, in places not already occupied. And, by the 
fifth clause, it was agreed, that " the subjects of either 
state should have free access to the settlements then made, 
or thereafter to be made by the other." This treaty, 
which was laid before parliament by Mr. Pitt, was cen- 
sured, as limiting the British right of settlement. The 
fifth clause was the special subject for attack by the 
opposition ; who contended that, under it a British settle- 
ment was liable to interruption and invasion every mo- 
ment, at the caprice or interest of the adverse party. 
Mr. Grey (the present Earl Grey) said, " In every place 
in which we might settle, access was left for the Spaniards. 
Where we may form a settlement on one hill, they may 
erect a fort on another. A British merchant mui?t run 
all the risk of discovery, and all the expenses of establish- 
ment, for a property which vras liable to be the subject of 
continual dispute, and which could never be placed on a 



OREGON TERRITORV. 203 

penaaiicnt and stable footing." Had this sagacious 
statesman foieseen the present state of" the Oregon ques- 
tion he could not have spoken more correctly ; and, if we 
substitute Americans for Spaniards, hi.-? description will 
hold good. 

Now, let it be recollected, that by this convention in 
1790, the rights of Spain and Great Britain became per- 
fectly equalized, and all differences, as to priority of dis- 
covery and right of colonization, were completely settled. 
Be it observed, that no other state had, or ever pretended 
to have, any right whatever to possession in those coun- 
tries. The discoveries, made by Russia in the more 
northern latitudes cannot be made an exception, because 
they never did, nor could interfere with t'ne terras of the 
convention. 

Great Britain, then, stands merely on her primitive 
rights of discovery, of possession, and settlement. And 
those rights she has, without one hint of concession, 
maintained up to the present hour. Since 1790 she has 
made no new claim of settlement, and for the best 
reason, because her claim was as strong as justice could 
make it. 

In 1807, the pretensions of the Americans to the Oregon 
became tlie subject of diplomacy between the two govern- 
ments. But nothing definite vi'as done. In 1811, pending 
the treaty of Ghent, the subject was renewed, and it was 
then agreed on that " the places seized on by either party 
should be restored." Now nothing was to be restored 
but the bare walls of Astoria (the American settlement 
before described), for the proprietor had already sold his 
effects to the British Northwest Company. Tiiis shell ol" 
an insignificant fort they never afterwards occupied. In 
1818 the subject was renewed. And then it was agreed, 
that the country west of the Rocky Mountains sliould be 
open to both powers for ten years, without prejudice to 
their respective claim. In 1827 the former covenant was 
cimnrmed, with Oic additional stipulation, that eitStcr 



204 OREGON TERRITORY. 

party was at liberty to annul it, on giving the other twelve 
months' notice. 

In a few months after the treaty of 1818, the Federal 
government concluded a treaty with Spain, called the 
" Florida Treaty ;" by which Spain ceded to these States 
all her claims and pretensions to territory north of the 
forty-second degree of latitude, by a line drawn from the 
sources of the Arkansas to the Pacific. 

It is on this cession of territorial right on the part of 
Spain that America partly rests her sole right to the ter- 
ritory of Oregon. But this assertion of right is, on the 
very face of it, absurd and untenable. Spain could not 
transfer what she did not then possess. Spain never had 
exclusive possession of the country, and even if she had, 
she surrendered it, by " the convention of the Escurial." 
in 1790. After that she had no more than a right of 
joint occupancy with Great Britain. But they assume 
another ground of right, i. e., the discovery of the Co- 
lumbia b}'^ Gray. This ground is as untenable as the 
other, and almost inconsistent with it. If the American 
right be sufficiently strong (as it is not) when founded on 
the cession by Spain, why resort to another ground ? — 
the priority of discovery, settlement, «fec. Now, this 
alleged discovery did not take place till two years after 
the treaty of 1790. And for tioenty-six years after this 
alleged discovery they did not set up such a claim of ex. 
elusive right. For they only contended, in 1814 and 
1818, that tiieir claim was as good as that of Great 
Britain. Besides, Gra}' was not the discoverer of this 
river. 

After the government of tiie United States had con- 
eluded the Florida treaty with Spain, it entirely altered 
its tone with respect to the Oregon country ; and when 
the negotiations were next renewed, in 1827, between it 
and the government of Great Britain, it pushed its pre- 
tensions to the boldest lengths. It then claimed, through 
its plenipotentiary — Mr. Gallatin, from the 42d to the 
49th degree of latitude, without reserve. 



OREGON TERRITORY. 205 

With respect to the discovery of the Columbia, it lias 
been already shown, that the first discoverer was not 
Gray, but Heceta ; and the first explorer was not Gray, 
but Broughton. 

As to the surrender of all the rights of Spain to 
America by the Florida treaty, the plain answer is, that 
Spain only did, and only could, surrender what she herself 
enjoyed after the convention of 1790, i. e., the right of 
joint trading and occupancy with Great Britain. An ex- 
clusive right she never had. And though a war broke 
out between the two countries subsequently to 1790, yet 
in the treaty of peace, afterwards signed, Spain did not 
rescind, or even propose to rescind, the covenant of 1790, 
which was of a fixed and permanent character. 

As to the surrender of Astoria, it ought to be noticed, 
that the Americans showed some " sharp practice." All 
the property of Astoria was sold to the Northwest Com- 
pany, by its proprietor, who anticipated the coming 
storm, and sold before the formal seizure of the fort by 
Captain Black, of the British war sloop, the Raccoon. 
The treaty stipulated that " all the possessions taken by 
either party, during or after the war, should be restored." 
Strictly speaking, there was nothing, except a denuded 
post, to be restored to the Americans, for there was no 
property lost. The fort was, however, restored, but it has 
not since been occupied by the Americans, which shows 
their surrender of the ground of occupancy. It is nov/ 
used by the Hudson's Bay Company. 

Lord Castlereagh, writing on the 4th of February, 1818, 
on this subject, to the British Minister at Washington, 
says, " In signifying to Mr. Adams the full acquiescence 
of your government in the re-occupation of the limited 
position (i. e., Astoria) which the United States held in 
that river (the Columbia) at the breaking out of the war, 
you will, at the same time, assert the claim of Great 
Britain to that territory, upon which the American settle- 
ment must be considered as an encroachment^ He also 
18 



206 OREGON TEKRITORY. 

says, that the British g'ovcrnmcnt " are not prepared to 
admit the validity of tlie title of the United States to this 
settlement." Lord Bathurst, in his despatch to the 
Northwest Company on this suhject, says, " without, 
however, admitting- the right of that government (the 
United States government) to the possession in question." 
Could language more pointedly convey the opinion of the 
British government, that the Americans had not a shadow 
of title to the country, than these despatches ?' The 
simple truth is, that it was not thought worth while to 
keep up a contention about a paltry post. It was sur- 
rendered. But the surrender was accompanied by many 
protests, that it should not be tortured into any recogni- 
tion of a right of occupation on the part of America. On 
the contrary, the settlement was declared to be an en- 
croachment on British rights, in despatches publicly 
addressed by British ministers to public servants, and 
public companies. 

As to contiguity of territory. — The American territory 
is not more contiguous to the Oregon than the British is. 
In fact, it is less contiguous, for the undisputed posses- 
sions of Great Britain in North America are absolutely 
dovetailed into that country, so much so, that if, by any 
fatuity or criminality of British statesmanship, the 
country were to be surrendered to the avarice of the 
Americans, it would be almost impossible to strike a line 
of boundary. But the case is very different as to the 
frontiers of the United States. There nature has erected 
a wide and lofty barrier. After you pass the western 
limits of the States, there is, for many weeks' journey, 
a vast arid wilderness, yielding no sustenance for even 
wild man, or wild beast. Then, after that, there rises to 
the clouds, and above them, the appalling range of the 
Rocky Mountains, towering, sometimes, to the height of 
eighteen thousand feet, capped with eternal snow. Then 
again, these being crossed, the traveller has to pass over 
hundreds of miles, through crags, defiles, and deserts, 



OREGON TERRITORY. 207 

before he approaches the valley of Columbia. Tliis is 
contiguity of territory ! In the same way may the 
Pacha of Egypt claim the land of the Niger as an appen- 
dage to tlie land of the Nile. 

The object of the Americans is to have the dominion 
of the whole continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; 
and to exclude all Europeans, especially British subjects, 
from all habitation there. This they do not disguise : 
indeed, they are every day growing bolder, and more 
exclusive in their tone. 

The forty-ninth degree of latitude was the extremest 
northern limit that the Americans ever set, formerly 
(even in 1827), to their claim, in their boldest assumption 
of right. But now they have transcended all their former 
pretensions by many degrees ; for they claim as far north 
as the fifly-fourth degree ! The President, in his formal 
message to Congress, on the 5th of December, 1842, says: 
" The United States have alioays contended that their 
rights appertained to the whole region of country lying 
on the Pacific, and embraced within 42^ and 54^ 40' of 
north latitude." 

Commentary on so false and monstrous an assertion as 
this is thoroughly useless. If concession be made to this 
claim, they will, by and by, claim as far as the Pole. 
In a word, nothing will satisfy them, short of the extinc- 
tion of British power and influence throughout the north- 
crn continent of America. And it only remains for the 
British government, and the British people, to consider 
whether they will tolerate this. 



208 OREGON TERRITORY. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Flatheads — Blackfeet — Snakes — Piutes — Strange probationary 
rites. 

The Flatheads are, comparatively, very fair in com- 
plexion, and remarkably well made and active ; with oval 
faces, and a mil 1, and playful expression of countenance. 
They are described, by those who have the best opportu- 
nities of knowing them collectively, as well as indi- 
vidually, as moral and honest in all their dealings — brave 
in the field — amenable to their chiefs — fond of cleanli- 
ness, and decided enemies to theft and falsehood of every 
description. They are also free from backbiting and 
laziness, which are so common among other tribes. The 
women are dutiful and affectionate wives and mothers ; 
and conjugal infidelity is scarcely known amongst them. 
The dress of the men and women resembles that of other 
tribes living in rude comfort. 

The principal chief of the tribe is hereditary ; but, 
from their constant wars, they have adopted the salutary 
custom of electing, as their leader in battle, that warrior 
in whom is combined the greatest portion of wisdom, 
strength, and bravery. The election takes place an- 
nually ; and, after the expiration of his period of military 
chieftainship, the leader sinks into his original position, 
unless he be re-elected. When at home, this leader has 
no authority whatever ; but is as equally subject as any 
other warrior to the power of the hereditary chief. But 
when the warriors set out on their hunting excursions to 
the plains, he assumes the chief command, which he 
exercises with absolute sway till their return. On their 



OPvEGOX TERRITORY. 209 

advance towards an enemy, he always takes the lead ; 
and on their return, or retreat, he brings up the rear. 
His post is one of the greatest danger, as well as of re- 
sponsibility and power. He carries a long whip with a 
thick handle, which is decorated with scalps of those 
whom he himself slew, and with feathers ; and he gene- 
rally appoints two active warriors as his subalterns, or 
aides-de-camp. Great regularity is observed during the 
march ; and if any warrior fall out of the ranks, or be 
guilty of any breach of discipline, he always acts with 
strict justice and impartiality ; and punishes one of his 
own officers, if guilty of any disobedience or irregularity, 
with as much severity as any other offender. Hence, as 
well as from a sense of public expediency and duty, his 
authority is patiently obeyed. After the conclusion of 
the campaign, and on their arriving at their own home, 
the hereditary chief convenes a public meeting, and they 
proceed to a new election. There is no canvassing or 
intriguing ; and if the last leader be superseded, he sub- 
mits without a murmur. 

They rarely marry out of their own nation ; and will 
not easily consent that any of their women should become 
the wife of a white man. Their marriag^are contracted 
only with the consent of the bride's parents or natural 
guardians, to whom presents are made by the bride- 
groom. He, too, in return, receives presents. This 
custom prevails among most of the tribes west of the 
Rocky Mountains. On the marriage-day, there is a 
meeting of mutual frTends at the lodge of the bride's 
father, or next relation, who acts as her guardian ; and 
they smoke the pipe of peace and friendship. Here the 
bride receives a lecture as to her future duties as a wife 
and mother. Slie is exhorted to be chaste, discreet, in- 
dustrious, and silent ; and when absent, with her hus- 
band, among other tribes, always to stay at home, and 
have no intercourse with strange Indians. She then re- 
tires wnth the old women to an adjoining hut, where she 
IS* 



210 OREGON TERRITORY. 

undergoes ablution ; and is decked out in her bridal 
finery. She is then led back to her father's, or guardian's 
lodge — is complimented, and receives another lecture of 
advice. After this, a procession is formed to conduct the 
couple to their own lodge : the men, conducting the 
bridegroom, move on first, bearing flambeaux of cedar, 
in a slow and solemn pace, singing war-songs in praise 
of the bridegroom's bravery, and of their own victories 
over their enemies — especially the Blackfeet. The bride 
follows at a short distance, surrounded by a group of 
women, old and young ; some of whom are rejoicing at 
the prospect of happiness before her ; others — especially 
her young companions — crying, at the prospect of losing 
her unrestrained society thenceforward. When the whole 
party arrive at the door of the young couple's lodge, they 
form a circle, and commence dancing and singing for 
about twenty minutes. After this, the pipe of peace goes 
round ; the company offer many prayers for the future 
welfare of the bridal pair; and depart. 

The country of the Flatheads presents a pleasing diver- 
sity of woods and plains — valleys and mountains — lakes 
and rivers ; and is well stocked with deer, mountain, 
sheep, beavers, otters, martens, wolves, lynxes, See, wild- 
fowl and fish, besides esculent roots ; so that they have 
abundant means of subsistence and clotliing ; and of 
traffic as well. 

The Flatheads are polite and unobtrusive. AVhen one 
speaks, the rest pay attention ; and every one very 
quietly gives his reasons for assenting, or dissenting, 
from any proposition. Even the children are more peace- 
able than other children ; and though hundreds of them 
may be seen together at play, there is no quarrelling 
among them. 

There is among them a strong devotional feeling, 
which is much encouraged by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. Sunday is inviolably kept sacred by them. They 
will not raise their camp on that day ; neither will they 



OREGON TEimiTORY. 211 

hunt, fi:-'h, trade, or perform any kind of labour, except in 
cases of extreme dang-er on that day : they also spend a 
part of it in prayer and religious ceremonies. The chief, 
who is at the same time, generally, priest, assembles the 
community, and commences a form of prayer, in which 
they all join in an occasional chaunt, or chorus. He 
then exhorts them to good conduct — to be diligrent in 
providing for their families — to abstain from lying and 
stealing — to avoid quarrelling, or cheating in their play; 
and to be just and hospitable to all strangers. During 
this time of worship, all business in the camp is sus- 
pended : and if an Indian is riding by, he dismounts ; 
holds his horse, and attends with devotion till all is over. 
At the conclusion, the priest says, " I have done ;" to 
which they all respond aloud. They have also their 
prayers on week-days, in the morning or evening. Some- 
times on an evening, the chief, or priest, delivers these 
prayers and exhortations on horseback, moving slowly 
about the camp. 

This devotional feeling, and respect for morality, pre- 
vails among the Nez Perces also, and other tribes in the 
midland region. And it may be affirmed, that there are 
many leading points of similarity between the Flatheads 
and these tribes. They afford an ample and excellent 
field for the labours of zealous and judicious missionaries; 
who would have but little difficulty in converting them 
to Christianity — the morality and benevolence of which 
they already, to some extent, practise ; and for the recep- 
tion of which they are already, in a great measure, pre- 
pared. But then the missionaries should be men who 
would enforce the truth and usefulness of their preaching 
by the purity of their lives ; for as they themselves gene- 
rally practise what their preachers inculcate, they would 
at once keenly notice any discrepancy between doctrine 
and conduct. 

They believe in the existence of a good and evil spirit ; 
and in a future state of rewards and punishments. They 



212 OREGON TERRITORY. 

believe, that after death the good will go to a country 
where there is perpetual summer; and delightful rivers 
and plains, abounding in fish, buffalo, and all kinds of 
game — that they will there meet their parents, wives, 
children, and other relations and friends — and will there 
spend their time in hunting, fishing, and amusement ; 
free from the terrors of war, or tiie apprehensions of cold, 
or famine. But the bad, they believe, will be consigned 
to regions of eternal snow ; where they will be shivering 
with cold, and sinking with thirst and hunger — behold- 
ing, at a distance, fires, which they cannot approach — 
water, which they cannot touch — and herds of deer and 
buffalo, which they cannot kill : in a word, tantalized 
with the sight of all the good things of life, which they 
must not use. They think the boundary between the 
dreary Tartarus occupied by the wicked, and the Elijsian 
fields of the good, is a jungle full of panthers, wolves, 
and all other noxious and dangerous animals. However, 
they imagine that this place of punishment is rather a 
purgatory than a hell ; and that according to the ditTerent 
degrees of the crimes of the wicked, they will sooner or 
later be emancipated ; and when their offences are ex- 
piated, be permitted to join their former friends, in the 
happy regions of the good. 

Their code of morality is very simple, and compre- 
hensive. They say that honesty — bravery — truth — duti- 
ful submission to their parents — obedience to their chiefs 
— and affection for their wives, children, and families, 
are the virtues which entitle them to a place of happiness 
hereafter ; wJiereas the opposite vices condemn tliem to 
a place of misery. 

They have also some idea of a fallen state. They 
have a traditionary belief that beavers are a fallen race 
of Indians ; who disobliged the Good Spirit, and were 
therefore condemned to their present shape — but that in 
due time they will be restored to their humanity. They 
allege that beavers have certain powers of speech ; and 



OREGON TERRITORY. 



213 



that they have heard them talk with each other — holding 
council; and sentencing offending members to punish- 
ment. These notions about beavers are held by several 
other Indian tribes. 

The Blackfeet are a numerous tribe, and the best- 
looking of all the American Indians ; who roam far and 
wide on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, and are 
generally represented by natives and American traders, 
as the sworn foes alike of white men and red. But 
though they are, unquestionably, a fierce race, yet I have 
spoken to many free hunters and trappers, as fierce and 
unscrupulous as themselves — men who would find no in- 
terest in undervaluing the perils of their own pursuit, 
and would not be disposed to soften down the character 
of these Indians — men who knew the Blackfeet well; 
and I have heard from them that they were not devils so 
black as they Avere painted. They obtained the character 
of ferocity ; and they were therefore considered as fair 
human game, to be hunted down by the surrounding na- 
tions, whom they used to conquer in war ; and by the 
Americans, against whose encroachments on Indian free- 
dom and territory, they offered, and offer still, the most 
formidable stand. They are an austere and haughty 
race — occupy, generally, countries (as they spread their 
predatory and migratory rovings over a vast expanse, 
which abounds in all the means of subsistence) which 
bring them on the American confines, and which are 
worth preserving. They have, they say, heard of the 
Americans ; who preached liberty, and proved it by 
shaking off the dominion of foreigners ; but have shown 
how false are their pretensions and their professions of 
general freedom, when the first use they have made of 
the establishment of their own independence, even in a 
strange land, v/as to rob those whose independence in 
their own native land was never disputed since they were 
created by the Great Spirit. 

They say, too, that these white men did not come to 



214 OREGON' TERRITORY. 

them originally in a candid guise — either as friends or 
enemies ; but that, contrary to all the notions they enter- 
tained of truth and valour, they came to them as treach- 
crous liars. They smoked with them the pipe of peace 
and fidelity — broke that pledge — and then hunted tlie red 
men, like v/olves, from the plains and hills that were 
granted to their fathers from all time. These white men 
pretended to give them the great blessings which their 
own spirit gave them ; but in place of this they gave 
them — not more meat, nor more fruits, nor more bread 
from roots, nor a better mode of making arrows, nor 
softer beds — but burning tvater (spirituous liquors) which 
the Bad Spirit made ; and which made them mad; and 
not friends, but enemies, to each other. They also say, 
that these white men who come from the direction of the 
rising sun, (the United States Americans,) have endea- 
voured to make them enemies to the other white men, 
who come from other quarters. These, and a thousand 
other justifications for their hostility to the white men, 
especially the Americans, I have heard trom those who 
have had opportunities of familiar converse with them. 

Independently of these abstract reasons for their dis- 
like of the citizen white men, as the wanton destroyers 
of the whole red race, the conduct of the individual spe- 
cimens of the American character who creep in among 
them, would almost justify their antipathy. 

A well-principled and high-minded American writer — 
Mr. Tovvnsend, who made a journey through these re- 
gions with an American party, says, " This hostility is 
kept alive from year to year by incessant provocations 
on the part of the white hunters and traders, who are at 
best but intruders on the rightful domains of the red men 
of the wilderness. Many a night have I sat at the fire- 
side, and listened to the recital of bloody and ferocious 
scenes, in which the narrators were the actors, and tlie 
poor Indians the victims. And I have felt my blood boil 
with indignation, to hear the diabolical acts applauded 



OREGON TERRITORY. 215 

by these for whose amusement they were narrated :" 
(t. e., the company of the American free citizens wlio ac- 
companied him in his route overland through the Rocky 
Mountains to the Columbia, or Oregon territory.) " Many 
a merciless marauder was made by these midnight tales 
of rapine and murder — many a stripling, in whose tender 
mind the seeds of virtue and honesty had never yet ger- 
minated, bm-ned for an opportunity of loading his pack- 
horse with the beaver-skins of some solitary Black-foot 
trapper ; who was to be murdered, and despoiled of the 
property he had acquired by months of toil and danger." 
The writer proceeds to point out a darker feature in the 
character of his countrymen — " those noble freemen (to 
use the words of a member of Congress) who are the 
pioneers to prepare the road of civilization^ of Christi- 
anity, and of our institutions, to our territories on the 
banks of the Columbia." (!) — Says Mr. Townsend, in 
continuation of this subject, " Acts of this kind are by 
no means uncommon : and the subjects of this sort of 
atrocity are not always the poor Indians. White men 
themselves often fall by the hands of their companions, 
when by good fortune and industry they have succeeded 
in loading their horses with fur ! The fortunate trapper 
is treacherously murdered by one who has eaten from the 
same dish, and drank from the same cup with him : and 
the assassin triumphantly returns to the camp with his 
ill-gotten property. If his companion be inquired for, 
the answer is, that some days ago they parted company : 

and he will probably soon join But he is soon 

forgotten; or perhaps only remembered by one, more 
steadfast than the rest, who seizes with avidity the first 
opportunity of murdering an unoffending Indian in re- 
venge for the death of his friend." 

The ferocity of the Blackfeet towards the white man 
has, however, latterly been much mitigated by intercourse 
with the traders and out-trapping parties of the Company. 
These act towards them with uniform civility, liberality, 



216 OREGON TERRITORY. 

and justice, and go openly, and with known authority, 
and also under responsibility to the Company : not in the 
sneaking, thieving, bullying, and plundering character of 
the Americans, who can give little, and are disposed to 
give less, in the way of trade, but cheat and plunder as 
much as they can, and are not under any control. Mr. 
Townsend, speaking of a trapping party in the service of 
the Company, and under the command of Mr. M'Kay, 
consisting of thirty men, Indians, French Canadians, and 
half-breeds, observes, " I admire the order, decorum, and 
strict subordination which exists ainong his men, so 
different from lohat I have been accustomed to see in par- 
ties composed of Americans steady, determined 

perseverance, and bold measures, aided by a rigid self- 
example, made them as clay in his hand, and has finally 
reduced them to their present admirable condition." 
The Blackfeet appreciate this mode of dealing and inter- 
course, and in general reciprocate fairly enough, con- 
sidering the short duration of time in which they have 
been brought to even a remote knowledge of principle of 
fair-dealing or humanity existing among the whites. In 
their own peculiar districts they will deal peaceably with 
the servants of the Company ; but when they go abroad 
on "war-parties," or predatory excursions, they do not 
conceive themselves bound by any duty to act very 
scrupulously, and they will slay, or plunder, or trade, as 
their feelings or interest may lead tliem. 

The Snakes, and other tribes, do the same. They think 
that, when confined within their own country, and when 
therefore in a state of peace, they are responsible for all 
their actions, and must eschew all outrage, and their 
country and nation are free from all imputation. But 
when they roam abroad into other countries, in their 
marauding expeditions, then they imagine that their own 
outrages must be considered as the legitimate duties of 
their calling and their necessities; and that any misdeeds 
of theirs ought to be saddled on the proper occupants ot 



OREGON TERRITORY. 217 

the invaded country. If a white man, for instance, is 
slain by ihe Blackfeet in the Snake country, they will 
justify themselves by the argument that he was an 
enemy, else why would the Snakes have him there ? 
The Snakes, in a similar case, would make the same 
plea. 

The Snake Indians, who embrace many tribes, inhabit 
a wide extent of country at the head of Snake River, 
above and below Fort Hall, and the vicinity of Great 
Bear River, and Great Salt Lake. They are a migratory 
race, and generally occupy the southeastern portion of 
the Oregon. Horses and dogs are their only domestic 
animals. Their clothing does not differ much from that 
of other inland Indians. The hair, which like that of 
the Blackfeet grows to an extraordinary length, is the 
only covering for the head ; in general it is braided and 
twisted round the head, and, thus managed, forms a 
strong protection, not only against the weather, but 
against an offensive weapon — far better than cap or 
helmet. The females, for the most part, wear it hanging 
down the back in queues. Their lodges are of a conical 
shape, covered with skins. Their weapons are bows, 
arrows, and guns. Their general stock in trade consists 
of horses, the skins of deer, elks, buffaloes, beavers, otters, 
and fish. They are represented by most persons, as 
pacific and hospitable ; especially those races within, or 
bordering on the Rocky Mountains. They have obtained 
credit from travellers and traders for hospitality, and 
honesty in all their dealings, and for possessing high 
notions of morality and self-restraint. Knowing the 
dangerous and degrading consequences of the use of 
spirituous liquors, they refrain from them, saying, that, 
though exciting for the moment, they eventually enfeeble 
them, and render them unfit for the purposes of hunting, 
and of defending themselves against their enemies — they 
make them quarrelsome to their wives and children, to 
whom they are bound to be kind, and induce them to 
19 



218 OREGON TERRITORY. 

fight amongst themselves, when they ought all to be 
united against the common enemy, and that their use 
reduces the bravest and most crafty chief to the condition 
of the lowest Indian. 

Though this general picture, given by some travellers 
and writers, holds good in the main, of the various tribes 
classed under the head of Snake Indians, and holds 
especially so in the fertile countries verging on the con. 
fines of the territories of the United States, and in those 
bordering on that of their enemies, yet there are many 
sad drawbacks, as in the barren lands, within the Oregon 
territory, west of tlie Rocky Mountains, many of the 
tribes who live on fish are filthy in the extreme — ill clad, 
and selfish. Of the Kagouse, and Forces, who live 
farther west, in a better soil and under a more genial 
climate, and who have closer intercourse with the traders, 
such a picture holds better still. The Perces are in 
general, a very good-looking race, both men and women. 
But, of all the inland races, the Flatheads hold the first 
rank, in point of intelligence and civilization, and social 
intercourse with the whites, and personal comforts. 

Among the many singular narratives of his own adven- 
tures, and of the customs and superstitions of the remote 
inland tribes, narrated by Mr. Peter Skein Ogden, one of 
the chief factors, he mentions the following : " Among 
many of the warlike tribes of the Rocky Mountains 
there exists a remarkable custom of initiatory probation 
for the young men, in the arts of pillage and war. When 
arrived at the age judged fit for bearing arms, and being 
useful to the tribe, they assemble in bands, to the number 
of thirty or fifty, according to circumstances, in the 
spring ; and taking formal leave of their relations and 
friends, depart to some secret place in the woodlands. 
There they erect a tent, with a number of poles, about 
thirty feet long each, planted in a circle in the ground, 
and brought to a point at the top. This they cover 
closely with boughs and leaves, so as to render the inte- 



OREGON TERRITORY. 219 

rior quite impenetrable to human observation from the 
outside. The entrance is by a closely-wattled door, 
equally impervious to human vision. This they make 
their temple. Inside, from the top of the conical roof, they 
hang a fresh buffalo-hide ; and below it, round the sides, 
camp-kettles, and blankets : and some arms, as the neces- 
sary accompaniments in their expeditions — scalps, the 
emblems of victory — and the skin of a white buffalo (a 
most rare and precious animal), — as offerings to the 
Great Spirit. Then they commence the ceremony of in- 
Yoking the aid of this spirit ; and consecrating them- 
selves to their future pursuits, and the general interest of 
their tribe. Their principal ceremonial is the smoking 
of the mystic pipe. The person appointed as priest first 
uses the pipe — exhaling the vapovir through his nostrils 
— then touches the ground, and aflerwards his limbs, 
with the lower part of the bowl, and hands the pipe round 
on the right hand, to the rest, who do the same. This 
rite ended, they offer a solemn supplication to the Great 
Spirit for success ; and make a solemn vow, that if the 
evil one do not enter and enfeeble them, they will never 
again return to their relatives and tribe, except in gar- 
ments stained with the blood of their enemies. Afler 
this, they dance to the music of a war-chaunt, until they 
become exhausted. They spend three days and nights 
in the performance of these rites, without eating or drink- 
ing. From the languor of body, and the high excitement 
of the imagination, produced during this time, their sleep 
must be broken, and visited with visions adapted to their 
views. They therefore imagine that the spirits of the 
brave dead, allowed to descend by the Great Spirit, visit 
them, and direct them in their future course of opera- 
tions. On the morning of the fourth day, at dawn, they 
sally forth from their temple ; each separately, and by a 
different route, to some distant spot which they had pre- 
viously agreed on as a rendezvous ; where they are to 
concert their future schemes of operation. After they 



220 OREGON TERRITORY. 

quit the temple, hungry and feeble, they must provide, 
every man for himself, until they meet. If they are un- 
able to fulfil the terms of their vow during- the first season, 
from lack of an enemy, on whom to flesh their maiden 
weapons, they retire to winter-quarters to v/ait their op- 
portunity. If no human game is on foot, they are obliged 
to resort to some ingenious mode of keeping the vow ; 
for the quicker their return home, the higher their repu- 
tation. A solitary trapper, well known to the tribe to 
which a band of these disappointed noviciates belonged, 
once dropped in their way. They gave him hospitable 
cheer. But he soon discovered that they began angrily 
to debate among themselves as to the propriety of shed- 
ding his blood. One party contended, that, though he 
was the acquaintance of their fathers, yet he was a white 
man, and all white men were their natural enemies ; and 
that though he ate with them, he did not give them hos- 
pitality ; and besides, that, when they were disappointed 
in the wilderness, he was thrown into their way by the 
Great Spirit, in order to enable them to fulfil the terms 
of their vow, and to return to their homes and friends. 
Against this, it w^as maintained that the white men were 
not of necessity their natural enemies, for some of them 
did them good service; — that as this man was called 
brother and friend by their fathers, he ought to be so 
considered in reality ; — that, as they invited him to cat, 
they pledged themselves to the same friendship towards 
him as was shown by their fathers ; — that thus to lure 
him to destruction, was not the act of brave men, who 
expected reward from the Great Spirit, or approbation 
from their fathers ; — tiiat if lie were at all thrown in 
their v/ay by any supernatural agency, it was by that of 
the Evil one, who wished to tempt tliem, by a cowardly 
and dishonourable act, to exasperate the Great and Good 
Spirit in slaying a friend and brother. A compromise 
was at last effected between the parties, by taking his 
blood without taking his life. A sharp flint-lancet was 



OREGON TERRITORY, 221 

applied to his veins, vvliich gave blood enough to dye 
their garments : and thus they returned home with their 
vow fulfilled, at least to the letter ; and the trapper re- 
turned to the mountains." 

These temples are held sacred and inviolable. They 
are suffered to remain, with all their valuable offerings 
untouched, as memorials of piety ; and it is death for any 
one to take from them a single article. 

Within the Colorado and the Great Salt Lake, there 
dwells a tribe which is one of the most degraded of the 
whole human race, physically and mentally — the Piutes. 
They are entirely naked — men and women : and their 
only food is lizards, snails, and wild roots. When the 
snow falls heavily, and these means of subsistence fail 
them, for they are utterly improvident, thc}'^ burrow holes 
in the sides of tlie sandhills, and there vegetate in a state 
of somnolent torpor till the opening of the season. Then 
they crawl abroad, " anatomies of death," to eke out their 
wretched living ; and, until they acquire sufficient 
strength to forage at large, eat grass on their hands and 
knees like beasts. The trappers say, that after a severe 
season, the ground about their caverns may be seen 
covered with the bodies of famished dead. Their only 
weapons are clubs, and in the use of even these they are 
unskilful. 



19* 



222 OREGON TERRITOHV. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Fort Hall — Trappers— Buffalo— Shooting the rapids— Passage 
from the United States across the Rocky Mountains. 

Fort Hall, one of the remotest stations, situated in 
the third section, on the southeast, near the Rocky Moun- 
tains, was built in 1832, by Captain Wyeth, an American, 
who first tried the speculation of a salmon fishery at the 
lower parts of the Columbia, and failed ; he then tried a 
fur-trading speculation, and also failed, from want of 
skill, or capital, or liberality of dealing. The Company 
purchased this post from him on liberal terms ; and the 
purchase to him was almost equivalent to a gratuity ; as 
he had no means of otherwise disposing of his stock, and 
receiving any remuneration for his outlay. At this 
station, which commands a wide range of trading opera- 
tions, clothing of every kind, provisions, and ammunition 
are supplied to the Indians and tlie free traders ; as are 
also horses, accoutrements, and other necessaries, for that 
wild and desolate country. So liberal is the Company, 
and so strong is the mutual confidence between the par- 
ties, that the horses are given as a loan ; and the other 
articles are sold on credit, and at a moderate charge, to 
be paid for when the skins are brought in, at the proper 
season ; no security being given or required, except the 
honour of the recipients of the favours. So that if the hunt- 
ers fail, from death, casualty, or dishonesty, to fulfil their 
share of the contract, the Company have no remedy. The 
Company, even in this wa}^ — on credit, sell their goods at 
one half of what the Americans charge ; and pay much 



OREGON TERRITORY. 223 

Jiighcr for the goods received than the Americans. This 
liberality of treatment, and the nniform justice of the 
Company, are so strongly contrasted with the conduct of 
the American merchants, that (to use the words of Mr. 
Farnham, v/ho was hospitably entertained there after 
crossing the mountains), " even the American trappers 
are fast leaving the service of their countrymen, for the 
larger profits, and better treatment, of British employ- 
ment." There is also a company of men connected with 
this fort, under the command of an American moun- 
taineer, who, following various tribes in their migratory 
expeditions, in the adjacent Mexican and American do- 
inain, collect whatever fur may chance to be among them. 
By these means, and various others subsidiary to them, 
the gentleman in charge of the establishment collected, in 
the summer of 1839, more than thirty packs of the best 
beaver of the mountains. 

Many stories are told at the fort of the strange adven- 
tures, and " hair breadth 'scapes" of the free mounted 
trappers. But it may be worth while to mention one, 
which Richardson, a Kentuckyman, long known to the 
servants of the Company as one of the most astute and 
dare-devil traders of the mountains, used to tell. It is his 
boast that he never carries provisions on the most dreary 
and distant journeys. His good horse, his trusty rifle, 
his pistols, and his knife ; his steel flint, his traps, a coil 
of cord, a wallet, are his only accompaniments ; and his 
only trust in Providence. Furnished with these, I have 
heard him say, he fears nothing, over river, or frozen lake, 
or mountain, or barren plain. Sometimes he attaches 
himself to a party ; and sometimes forages and hunts 
alone. He was once out alone hunting buffaloes, and at 
the close of day was returning to his tent, when he heard 
a clattering of hoofs behind him, and, upon looking back, 
he observed three Blackfeet Indians, well mounted, in hot 
pursuit of him. He immediately threw off his cargo of 
meat to lighten his horse ; and then urged onward the 



224 OREGON TERRITORY. 

animal to his utmost speed, in hopes to outstrip his pur- 
suers. But he discovered that the enemy was gaining' 
rapidly upon him, and would soon have him at their 
mercy. He then adopted an expedient as singularly in- 
genious as it was desperately bold. Drawing his long 
scalping knife, he plunged it into his horse's neck, and at 
once severed the spine. The animal dropped instantly 
dead, and the determined hunter, throwing himself behind 
the fallen carcass, prepared to meet his pursuers. In a 
moment one of the Indians came within range of his rifle, 
and was shot through the heart. The other two, seeing 
the fate of their companion, halted for a moment, and 
then prepared to surround their enemy. But just as the 
first man had sent his ball whistling by the ear of Richard- 
son, he himself dropped from his horse, by a ball from 
one of Richardson's long pistols. The third seeing this 
rather dangerous game to play, whipped his horse, and 
was soon out of sight. Richardson had then only to 
gather the fruits of his victory. He caught the two In- 
dians' horses — mounted one — loaded the other with the 
discharged cargo of meat, and returned home with two 
spare rifles, and a good stock of ammunition. 

The Indian wives of the Company's trappers can fre- 
quently hunt as well as their husbands — kill the elk and 
buflTalo — trap the beaver, and use the rifle. Living so 
much in the open air, and leading so active a life, and 
generally so well fed, they are athletic and active. It is 
no uncommon occurrence to find them, on their lonely 
excursions with their husbands, or even when travelling 
with a party, give birth to an infant silently, and without 
assistance ; and in an hour after they have recovered 
from the languor, tie up the infant — hoist it on their 
back, and proceed with their usual occupation. 

The kind of lodges generally used by the mountain 
Indians while travelling, and by the trapping parties, are 
of a conical form, composed of ten long poles, the lower 
ends of which are pointed, and driven into the ground, 



OREGON TERRITORY. 225 

the upper blunt, and drawn together by thongs. Above, 
arid around these poles, several dressed buffalo-skins, 
sewed together, are stretched, a hole being left on one 
side for an entrance. They are comfortable and commo- 
dious ; and in the erection of them, the Indian women, to 
whom the office is generally left, are singularly expert. 
A squaw, accustomed to the work, will erect and prepare 
one for the reception of her husband, while he is remov- 
ing the burden from his horse- An expert Indian woman 
has been known to stretch a lodge in half the time re- 
quired by four white men to erect another in the neigh- 
bourhood. 

Having already quoted the best authority for convey- 
ing an idea of tiie conduct of the American traders and 
trappers, and of the contrast between them and those in 
the service of the Company — i. e., American authority ; 
I beg to introduce one quotation more. Mr. Townsend, 
speaking of Mr. M'Kay's party, already mentioned, in 
which there were thirteen Indians — Perces, Kayouse, 
and others — says ; " After supper was concluded, we sat 
ourselves down on a buffalo-robe, at the entrance of the 
tent, to see the Indians at their evening devotions- The 
whole thirteen were soon collected, at the call of one 
whom they had chosen for their chief, and seated with 
sober, sedate countenances around a large fire. After re- 
maining in perfect silence for, perhaps, fifteen minutes, 
the chi-ef commenced a harangue in a solemn, impressive 
tone ; reminding them of the object for which they were 
assembled — that of worshipping ' the Great Spirit, who 
made the light, and the darkness, the earth, and the 
water,' — and then assured them, that if they offered up 
their prayers to him with one tongue, they would ccr- 
tainly be accepted. He then rose from his squatting po- 
sition to his knees, and his example was followed by all 
the otiiers. In this situation he commenced a prayer, 
consisting of short sentences, uttered rapidly, but with 
great apparent fervour — his hands clasped on his breast, 



226 OREGON TERRITORY. 

and his eyes cast upwards with a beseeching look to- 
wards heaven. At the conchision of each sentence, a 
choral response of a few words was made, accompanied, 
frequently, by low moaning. The prayer lasted about 
twenty minutes. After its conclusion, the chief, still 
maintaining the same position of body and hands, but 
with his head bent to his breast, commenced a kind of 
psalm, or sacred song, in which the whole company 
joined. The song was a simple expression of a few 
sounds, no intelligible words being uttered. It resembled 
the words Ho-ha — Ho-ha — Ho-ha — commencing in a low 
tone, and gradually swelling to a full, round chorus. 
During the song, the clasped hands of the worshippers 
were moved rapidly across the breast, and their bodies 
swung with great energy to the time of the music. The 
chief ended the song he had commenced by a kind of 
swelling groan, which was echoed in chorus. It was 
then taken up by another, and the same routine was 
gone through. The whole ceremony occupied about an 
hour and a half. A short silence then succeeded, after 
whicli each Indian rose from the ground, and disappeared 
in the darkness, with a step as noiseless as that of a 
spectre. I think I was never more gratified by any ex- 
hibition in my life. The humble and beseeching looks 
of the untutored beings who were calling on their hea- 
venly Father to forgive their sins, and continue his 
mercies, and the evident heartfelt sincerity which charac- 
terized the whole scene, were truly affecting and impres- 
sive." He then proceeds to say, that, ••' The next day, 
being the Sabbath, our good missionary, Mr. Jason Lee 
(he was a Methodist, and belonged to the writer's Ameri- 
can party), was requested to hold a meeting, with which 
he obligingly complied. The greater part of our men, as 
well as the whole of Mr. M'Kay's party, including the 
Indians, attended. The people were remarkably quiet 
and attentive ; and the Indians sat on the ground like 
statues. Although not one of them could understand a 



OREGON TERRITORY. 227 

word that was spoken, they nevertheless maintained the 
most strict and decorous silence, kneeling- when the 
preacher kneeled, and rising when he rose .... Mr. Lee 
is a great favourite with the men, deservedly so, and 
there are, probably, few persons to whose preaching they 
tcould huve listened with so much complaisance. I have 
often been amused and pleased by Mr. Lee's manner of 
reproving them for the coarseness, and profanity, of ex- 
pression, which is so universal among them." 

Let the reader contrast this account of Mr. M'Kay's 
party, including the Indians, with the following descrip- 
tion, given six pages further, of an American debauch ; 
bearing in mind that the Company's men are not allowed 
the use of spirits. "• At sunrise the ' star-spangled 
banner^ was raised on the flag-staff. All in the camp 
were allowed the free use of liquor; and, as usual, the 
consequence was a scene of rioting, noise, and fighting 
during the whole day. Some became so drunk that their 
senses fled them entirely ; and they were, therefore, 
harmless; but by far the greater number were suffi- 
ciently under the influence of the vile trash, to render 
them in their conduct disgusting and tiger-like. We 
had gouging^ biting, Jisticvffing, and stamping, in the 
most scientific perfection. Some even fired guns and 
pistols at each other. Such scenes I hope never to wit- 
ness again ; they are absolutely sickening ; and cause us 
to look on our countrymen with loathing." 

7%e Buffalo, or wild American ox, which formerly 
abounded in most parts of North America, is every day 
becoming scarcer, in proportion as civilization and culti- 
vation advance. It was found throughout the whole 
range now occupied by the United States, with the ex- 
ception of that part which lies east of Hudson's River 
and Lake Champlain, and of narrow and swampy strips 
of coast on the Atlantic Gulf of Mexico. The fineness of 
the buffalo wool, which within a few years has caused it 
to become an object of commerce, for the manufacture of 



228 OREGON TERRITORY. 

hats and cloths, is mentioned by Morton, a New England 
settler, in 1637. He says, "their fleeces are very useful, 
being a kind of wolle, as fine almost as the wolle of the 
beaver." At present they are seldom seen east of the 
Mississippi, and south of the St. Lawrence. But they 
are found in considerable numbers west of the Rocky 
Mountains, in the Columbian region, nearly to the borders 
of California, and west of Lake Winipeg, up to the sixty- 
third degree. Their general colour is dun ; sometimes 
they are spotted. The frame of the buffalo is larger 
than that of the generality of domestic cattle ; and, though 
the fore parts are uncouth, the hind parts are handsomely, 
and rather delicately formed. It looks very formidable, 
from its large shoulder hump, its flowing wiry mane, 
and sweeping beard, and thick horns, curved backwards. 
A herd of buffaloes, when pursued, especially if there 
be a great number of bulls, emits a strong odour of musk, 
Avhicli is left in their wake ; and their feet make a loud 
crackling noise. Their sense of smell is very acute. 
Sometimes they will scent a man, if to the windward of 
them, at the distance of two or three miles ; and then 
they will gallop away with the greatest speed. When 
they cannot scent a man, they will bear his near ap- 
proach, or advance themselves very near him, without 
any shyness. Whether this is to be attributed to the im- 
perfect vision of the animal, whose eyes are obscured by 
the great quantity of hair which covers his face, or not, 
it is not easy to determine. Though buffaloes and elks 
are seen on the same prairies, they do not herd together. 
Wolves commonly attend them ; and neither seem to 
molest the other. It is almost impossible to kill this ani- 
mal by shooting it through the head or chest : the head 
is so protected by a matting of coarse wiry hair, that a 
ball becomes entangled in it before reaching the bone ; 
and the chest is so fenced by a bulwark of bone, that it 
will require many bullets to penetrate it. Accordingly, 
the hunters contrive to gallop by the side of the animal. 



OREGON TERRITORV. 229 

and shoot it, with bullet or arrow, behind the shoulder- 
blade. 

They sometimes congregate in such myriads, on the 
prairies west of the Rocky Mountains, that the whole 
circle of vision within the bounds of the horizon presents 
one dark mass of these animals. The bulls march at 
the head of the cows ; and it is then dangerous to en- 
counter them : for if they become enraged or frightened, 
the whole herd start off in a straight line, and in close 
order, regardless of all obstacles ; and would crush to 
pieces men, horses, and wagons, if in their way. Some 
of these bulls weigh three thousand pounds each. When 
there is abundance of this sort of game, the hunters often 
content themselves with the choice parts — the tongue — 
the slices by the hump ribs — and the marrow ; the car- 
cass being left to the wolves. This waste often leads to 
woful want. When this animal is hunted, he becomes 
sometimes bewildered, and exasperated ; and turns round 
on his pursuers : then it is inevitable death to come 
within range of his horns. 

Shooting the rapids. — When a boat enters the rapids 
of the Columbia, the bowman and the steersman quickly 
resign their oars, and grasp short canoe-paddles, which 
they hold down edgewise, by the boat's sides, propping 
themselves, at the same time, against her gunwale, to 
steady her ; while the rowers, in the middle, ply their 
oars most vigorously : and then the boat sweeps on- 
ward — rising, or ducking, or spinning about, according 
as she is borne by the current or the eddies ; to the great 
terror of those who, for the first time, are thus wliirled 
along. The success of such a perilous adventure mainly 
depends on the steadiness and skill of the two guides, at 
the stem and stern — the efforts of the middle men being, 
mainly, to keep the boat buoyant. The contrast between 
the Canadian voyageurs and the Indians, in performing 
this feat, is remarkable and characteristic : those merrily 
20 



230 OREGON TERRITORY. 

chdunt their boa.t-song ; but these are as silent and stern 
as death. 

Passage from the States through the Rocky Mountains. 
— Though several parties have penetrated into the Ore- 
gon Territory from the United States, through the gorges, 
and over the towering heights, of the Rocky Mountains, 
yet it may be safely asserted, from the concurrent testi- 
mony of traders, trappers, and settlers, who have them- 
selves passed these natural barriers, that the difficulties 
are so numerous and formidable, and the time necessary 
for the passage so long, that there is no secure, expedi- 
tious, or commodious track, which can be ever used as a 
highway, so as to afford facilities for an influx of emi- 
grants over-land. Several routes have been tried of late ; 
and each differs only from the other in the privations 
which the passengers undergo. None but tlie wild and 
fearless free-trappers can clamber over these precipices, 
and tread these deserts with security ; and even these 
are quitting them as haunts, and now using them only 
as unavoidable tracks. It is true, there have been pub- 
lished more favourable accounts within the last year or 
two by parties who have made the journey safely, and 
who encourage others to make a similar experiment. 
But these accounts are in such a spirit of bravado, and 
accompanied with expressions of thankfulness by the 
parties for their own success, that they are indirect proofs 
of the difficulty and danger of the undertaking, and of 
the utter hopelessness of such a route for general pur- 
poses. For hundreds of miles, the several tracks present 
nothing but frightful barrenness under-foot, and over- 
head, scorching heat, or piercing cold. The country, 
even west of the Rocky Mountains, is broken with tower- 
ing cliffs, deep ravines, and sunken streams, from which 
the traveller cannot draw a drop to allay his burning 
thirst ; and the soil is either sandy, in which he sinks at 
every step ; or of a black, rugged stone, which tears his 



OREGON TERRITORY. 231 

feet. The travellers have been obliged to feed on the 
lean carcasses of their animals, which have died from 
hunger, thirst, or fatigue. Farnham says, that his party- 
were at last obliged to kill their universal favourite and 
pet — their dog ; and economize his flesh. He further 
says, that during eight days' journey — and he had pro- 
ceeded with the expedition of one travelling for life — he 
had not met with a single acre of land capable of pro- 
ducing grain or vegetables. 

Another American traveller — Townsend, says : " Our 
only food was the dried, crumbling, meat which we car- 
ried ; and chewed like biscuits as we travelled. There 
are two reasons by which the extreme thirst which the 
wayfarer suffers, in these regions, may be accounted for 
— first, the intense heat of the sun, upon the open and 
exposed plains ; and secondly, the desiccation to which 
every thing here is subject. The air feels like the breath 
of a sirroco ; the tongue becomes parched and horny ; 
and the eyes, mouth, and nose are incessantly assailed 
by the fine, pulverized lava, which rises from the ground 
with the least breath of air. Bullets, pebbles of chalce- 
dony, and pieces of smooth obsidian, were in great requi- 
sition : almost every man was mumbling some of these 
substances, in an endeavour to assuage his burning 
thirst." The lead bullets, and the other substances which 
they chewed were for the purpose of producing spittle, 
which they would swallow to prevent inflammation and 
death. 

There are, however, certain declinations called gaps 
through which (though with great labour), a tedious, and 
dreary passage can be effected. The most frequent of 
these is the most northern, between Mounts Brown and 
Hooker, through which the Company's servants pass in 
their journey from Columbia to Hudson's Bay. This is, 
comparatively, an easy passage. There is another be- 
tween the head-waters of the Flathead and Marias Rivers- 



232 OREGON TERRITORY. 

Another between Lewis and Clarke's River, in the Ore- 
gon, and the sources of the Missouri. And anether, 
which is very important, lies between Long's Mountains, 
and the Wind River cluster. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Missionaries. 

Having already, in various parts of this work, when 
describing the customs of the natives, prepared the 
reader for forming a judgment of the religious tendencies 
of their minds; and shown their aptitude for the recep- 
tion of Christian truth, I beg to offer a few remarks on the 
culpable neglect of the mental, moral, and religious cul- 
ture evinced by the missionary societies of Great Britain, 
and by successive governments, towards those people who 
are, in truth, de facto, however questionable it may be 
that they are dejure, subjects of the British crown. 

The Hudson's Bay Company, it cannot be doubted, 
exercises almost absolute sway over the whole of the 
northwest of America, and, it may be averred, also over 
the Oregon country. Their power is the only civilized 
power known to the Indians which they show any dispo- 
sition to yield to, or even respect. Independently of the 
vast and complex machinery of internal and coasting 
commerce, which they have set to work throughout those 
almost boundless tracts — a machinery reduced to the 
most perfect and unerring regularity — and indepen- 
dently of the sway which their numerous servants, 
scattered far and wide, and intermingling with the na- 
tives, can give the Company — the strict honesty of their 
dealings (for they are now become too powerful and too 
wealthy to be placed under any necessity of practising 



OREGON TERRITORY. 233 

either fraud or oppression to carry on their trade, and too 
humane and prudent to resort to these vile American ex- 
pedients), and their humane endeavours to lift, as far as 
lies within their individual scope, the natives from their 
prostration and ignorance to the rank of Christianized and 
civilized men — endeavours which the natives are sagacious 
enough to perceive, and honest enough to acknowledge 
(speaking generally), have struck the roots of their power 
deep into the hearts of the aborigines. 

The Russians and the Americans are the only two 
nations that come, even remotely, in contact with the 
British in those countries ; and both are equally powerless 
and uninfluential with the natives. The Russians, for the 
most part, confine themselves to their own territory — a 
strip of sea coast, beyond the 54^ of north latitude. Even 
here thy can hardly be said to exercise direct power, or 
even to have much injiuence. They have posts, it is true, 
stationed there ; one especially at Sitska, in the Kamtshcat- 
ka country — a large one, which is worthy of some notice, 
and to which the Hudson's Bay Company, by a com- 
mercial contract, entered into lately, supply provisions. 
They, however, are barely traders ; carrying off the pro- 
ducts of the country, without taking much interest in the 
condition of the natives : neither caring for them, or cared 
for by them. The Americans hold a position inferior 
still ; for they have not one inch of land from California 
to the Pole — from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, to 
which they have undisputed right ; and not one single 
trading post or station along that immeasurable range of 
coast and country. They do trade, it is true, as well as 
they can, throughout this vast expanse. But then, from 
their principles of conducting trade, and the domineering 
disposition evinced by their irresponsible traders, they 
have lost all hold of the respect and confidence of the 
natives. It may be, therefore, averred, without any 
chance of effective contradiction, that while the British 
possess substantial and enduring power, through the 



234 OREGON TERRITORY. 

agency of the Hudson's Bay Company, the Americans 
have, not to say a shadow of poicer, but they have not 
even injluence with the natives — from north to south — 
from east to west ; for they are looked on by them with 
distrust and hatred. Such, then, being the real position 
of the relative parties, and such the hold which the 
British have over the natives, it is deeply to be lamented 
that no general and effectual course has been adopted to 
bring them within the pale of Christianity and civilization. 
Perhaps on the whole surface of the earth there is not a 
wider and more easy field for the operation of the mis- 
sionaries, or one from which a richer harvest could be 
reaped. The natives are, generally, of a yielding and 
plastic character ; and the principles of their belief, ab- 
stractedly from their various superstitions, harmonize in 
some measure with the elementary truths of the Bible. 

Without enmnerating the various points in their natural 
theology, or giving a repetition of the several heads of 
creed professed by the different tribes, it will be quite 
enough for my purpose to say, that they believe in the 
existence of a great superintending Spirit, who created 
the world and all beings on it, rational and irrational ; 
who still exercises a paternal power and supervision over 
his creatures — that they believe in the existence of a 
subordinate spirit, whose motives are evil, and whose 
dwelling is in fire, and v.hose whole aim is to neutralize 
the beneficence of the great Good Spirit towards his 
earthly creatures, and to tempt these creatures to evil — 
that they believe in the immortality of the soul, and in a 
state of future rewards and punishments, commensurate 
with their earthly merits or demerits — that they believe 
these merits consist in the faithful discharge of all the 
domestic and social duties— that they believe it is incum. 
bent on them to offer daily homage to this Good Spirit — 
that they believe this Spirit sometimes condescends, on 
great occasions, to hold converse with their great and 
good men, or communicate his wiil by nocturnal visions. 
Some of them go farther, and believe in the fallen state of 



OREGON TERRITORY. 235 

man; some in a subordinate agent, identified with the 
Good and Great Spirit, doing his earthly work. Some, 
again, in their belief approach tJie historical truths of the 
Old Testament. They believe that this world was, in its 
primeval state, a fluid mass, enveloped in darkness, and 
yielding no living or growing thing — animal or vegetable ; 
but that the Great Spirit descended upon it in the shape 
of a huge bird, and, by brooding over it, gave it consis- 
tency and solidity — created the sun and moon, and all 
animated things on the earth. (This is the scriptural 
account : in which the words — " the Spirit of God moved 
on the surface of the waters," strictly means, "the Spirit 
of God brooded (like a bird) on the surface of the waters") 
— that there soon arose a general corruption among man- 
kind ; and then men lived a long time ; — that there was a 
general deluge, which swept away almost all men and 
animals — that some few were saved — that after that men 
became wicked again ; and then our ancestors came from 
the rising sun, a great distance. 

It deserves to be noticed, that, before the conquest of 
Canada, the Jesuit missionaries propagated, to a vast ex- 
tent, the principles of the Christian faith among the 
remotest tribes : and did it successfully. And, had not 
the conquest taken place, there would have now been 
diffused, to the most inaccessible heights and deepest 
dells of the continent, Christianity — perhaps Christianity 
in a bad form, but yet Christianity in all its elements — 
better than no Christianity at all. I regret to be obliged 
to state, that since the conquest, but little, comparatively, 
has been done for the conversion of the natives in the 
interior, and west. This is a complaint made by others. 
It is true, there is a school for missionaries, at Red River 
settlement ; but it is, necessarily, on too limited a scale 
for general purposes. 

I have heard often, from our voyageurs and trappers, 
that they saw rude crosses painted on lowly and deserted 
huts, or cut on trees, in the interior of the country, one 
thousand miles beyond the bounds of civilization. To 



236 OREGON TERRITORY. 

these emblems there is always a devotional reverence 
paid, for there is associated with them a traditionary 
record in the Indian mind, that they were the work of 
" the good white fathers, who, unlike other white men, 
never robbed or cheated them." 

But, exclusively of the humanity of converting the 
Indians to Christianity on sober and rational principles, 
there is a high principle of state policy involved in it. 
If the natives were converted, through the instrumentality 
of the Church of England, or even of British dissenters, 
to Christianity, they would, en masse, attach themselves 
to Great Britain. But as England has not used this 
powerful lever to move them, and as they are left through 
this culpable apathy and neglect to the influence of the 
Papal power, (which has already, within a few months, 
inducted a bishop to the Oregon district, under the title 
of " Bishop of Philadelphia, iii partibus injidelium,''^) 
and to the dissenters that swarm into the country from 
the United States, the British tenure of their affections 
must soon be enfeebled. 

The American missionaries are used by the American 
government, and fairly represented by the American 
writers, as political instruments, in exercising their in- 
fluence with the natives, to attach them to republican 
institutions, and to make them the passive recipients of 
all sorts of anti-British antipathies : and thus the Ameri- 
cans hope to recover the position in the country which 
they lost by their want of integrity, or energy, as 
traders. This is well worth the consideration of the 
British government, and the British Missionary Societies. 
I shall conclude by repeating, that there is not, in the' 
world, a finer or an easier field for the holy work ot 
Christian conversion. 



CONTENTS 

OF THE 

HOME & TRAYELLER'S 
LIBRARY. 



No. I.— TEXAS AND THE CULF OF MEXICO; OR, 

YACHTING IN THE NEW WORLD. By Mrs. 

Houstoun. With Illustrations. Price 25 Cents. 
No. II.— THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN EGYPT. By Mrs. 

Poole. With an Engraving of the Interior of the Great 

Pyramid. Price 25 Cents. 
No. III.— NIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. By Mrs. 

Johnstone, author of "Clan Albyn," "Elizabeth De 

Bruce," &c. Price 25 Cents. 
No. IV.— SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, CREDULITY, 

AND FANATICISM. Price 25 Cents. 
No. v.— THE OPIUM WAR; BEING RECOLLECTIONS 

OF SERVICE IN CHINA. By Captain Arthur Cu- 

nynghame. Price 25 Cents. 
No. VI. — IMPRESSIONS OF IRELAND AND THE 

IRISH. By the author of " Random Recollections of 

the Lords and Commons," "The Great Metropolis," 

&c. Price 25 Cents. 

No. VII.— DONALDSON'S EVENTFUL LIFE OF A SOL- 
DIER. Price 25 Cents. 

No. VIII.— DUNN'S HISTORY OF THE OREGON TERRI- 
TORY AND BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN FUR 
TRADE. Price 25 Cents. 

No. IX. will contain the Mutiny at the Nore. 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 

" Home and Traveller's Library. — Messrs. Zieber & Co. 
are men of enterprise, uprightness and go-aheadism. They 
do business on the correct principle, viz. — quick sales and 
short profits, and make money of course. The next enter- 
prise of theirs is to be 'The Home and Traveller's Library,' 
— a series of books, in the cheap form, for general circulation 
among ail classes. They are to be valuable, interesting, and 
agreeable. And the Editor is a guarantee. He is exceedingly 
well qualified. This series will be decidedly popular." — Sat. 
Courier. 



NEW BOOKS. 

TEXAS AND THE GULF OF MEXICO. 

Mrs. Houstoun's excellent and entertaining work entitled 
" Texas and Mexico, or Yachting in the New World," has been 
published in a very pretty and neat style, by Messrs. Zieber 
&Co. 

We perceive that this is the first of a series of semi-monthly 
publications to be entitled "The Home and Traveller's Libra- 
ry," and from a knowledge of the Editor's capabilities we 
cannot doubt that the selection of books to be included in the 
"Library" will be of the best and most improving character. 
In these days when the stores are filled with cheap and trashy 
publications, the fruit of an unparalleled facility of production, 
a good hand regulated by a properly constituted and trained 
mind is absolutely necessary to keep our reading confined only 
to the good to the exclusion of the bad. This semi-monthly 
series of publications will no doubt be a proper means of 
affording good reading. — U. S. Gazette. 



THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN EGYPT. 

BV MR?. lOOLE. 

This is the title of an interesting series of " Letters from a 
Hareem," (the old word harem is said to be obsolete,) pub- 
lished by G. B. Zicber and Co. Some of the letters are dated 
1844; they are written by Mrs. Poole, a sister of E. W. Lane, 
so favourably known in England and this country for his 
" Modern Egyptians," and his new version of the " Arabian 
Nights." Mrs. Poole had access to the hareems of the Pasha 
and other noble Mohammedans, as well as to the Mosques. 
For this she was indebted not only to her connexion with 
eminent Europeans resident at Cairo, but to her adoption of 
the Turkish dress and manners. She describes her mode of 
eating, after the custom of the country, in a very amusing 
manner. — Neal's Saturday Gazelle. 

The description of the Pyramids in the concluding chapters 
of the Englishwoman in Egypt, is remarkably clear, especially 
illustrated as it is by drawings. We have learned much more 
of the subject by reading it, than we did from one of Mr. 
Gliddon's lectures on the same subject. — Berks and Schuylkill 
Journal. 

From a Review of the Englishwoman in Egypt, in Blackwood's 
Magazine. 
Part of the work is taken from the MS. notes of Mrs. Poole's 
brother, E. W. Lane, author of the Modern Egyptians; but 
the authoress can very well afford to rest her claim to popu- 
larity on her own merits ; and, we prefer to follow her in her 
own peculiar sphere, into those mysterious recesses of an 
oriental establishment, whither no male footstep can ever 
penetrate. Mrs. Poole is probably the first English lady who 
has been admitted, not merely as a passing visiter, but as a 
privileged friend, into the hareems of those of the highest 



rank in the Egyptian capital. We find her threading the nar- 
row and crowded thoroughfares of Cairo, borne aloft on the 
" high ass," (the usual mode of conveyance for morning calls,) 
and are introduced to the wives and daughters of the viceroy, 
and even, (in the hareem of Habeeb EfFendi,) to ladies of the 
imperial house of Othman, in the ease and disinvoltura of Iheir 
domestic circles, amid that atmosphere ofdolcefar niente and 
graceful etiquette, in which the hours of an oriental princess 
appear to be habitually passed. 

With the exception of Lady Mary Wortley Montague's 
piquant sketches of the Turkish hareems and their inmates, 
and the singular narrative of her personal experience of life 
in an Indian Zenana, by Mrs. Meer Hassan All, we know no 
female writer who has enjoyed such opportunities for the de- 
lineation of the scenes of domestic privacy in the East, and 
who has so well availed herself of them, as the sister of 3/an- 
soor Effendi, in the pages before us." 

"This delightful volume is in all respects what it should be ; 
full of information and truth, and free from pedantry ; all feel- 
ing of tediousness is lost in the single wish that there was 
more." — Smith's Weekly Volume. 

" The excellent little book which results from Mrs. Poole's 
observations, gives us, in a few pages, more information on 
the grand mystery of Oriental homes, than we have ever 
been able to draw from other sources." — London Quarterly 
Review. 

"All the men in Europe together could never have gained 
or imparled the information in this book," — London Morning 
Post. 

" Emphatically the book of a lady." — Frazer. 

" Informing, sprightly, and entertaining." — JS'eio Montldy. 

•' The first good book on Egypt by a lady,'' — 7'a//, 



" Most agreeable and entertaining." — Chambers. 

" These interesting letters are written by Mrs. Poole, a sis- 
ter of E. W. Lane, so favourably known in England and this 
country for his ' Modern Egyptians,' and his new version of 
the Arabian Nights. Mrs. Poole had access to the Harems of 
the Pasha and other noble Mahommedans, as well as to the 
Mosques." — Neal's Saturday Gazette. 

" A series of lady-like, chaste, and yet extremely critical 
observations on the present state of Egypt."— Gliddon's Lec- 
tures on Egypt. 



NIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, OR STORIES OF 
AUNT JANE AND HER FRIENDS. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF CLAN ALBIN. 

Zieber&Co. Philad. 

" This book, the third of the series entitled ' The Home and 
Traveller's Library,' is a collection of pleasant stories, of a 
kind calculated to do good, as well as to amuse. This volume 
strengthens the good opinion already formed of the library. If 
the publishers proceed as they have commenced, they will 
give families one of the most valuable cabinets of miscellane- 
ous readmg ever printed." — Saturday Post. 

•'The Nights of the Round Table exhibit so much fine, 
healthy feeling, forcible delineation of character, beauty of 
description and strength of thought, all clothed in elegant 
and nervous language." — Aberdeen Herald. 

"Mrs. Johnstone's Tales may bf generally characterized as 
carrying instruction with amusement. Many of them contain 
striking pictures of virtuous poverty, and of self-denial in the 
middle ranks of life, drawn in a piquant and pleasing style. 
We reckon it no small recommendation of these tales, that in 



them the common-place virtues of every-day life obtain more 
justice than in most novels of the day." — Dundee Advertiser. 



SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, DECEPTION AND 
CREDULITY. 

"This is a work of no common interest and research; it 
depicts the follies of the human mind in its various stages of 
ignorance ; a remarkable feature of an enlightened and scien- 
tific age is the disappearance of many, if not most of the mon- 
strous beliefs and modes of deception under which our race 
has lived and been imposed upon. It is a work not merely 
for the gratification of the present moment, but one which 
will be read by successive generations with interest and in- 
struction." — Smith's Weekly Volume. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF SERVICE IN CHINA. 

BY CAPTAIN ARTHUR CUNYNGHA5IE. 

Price 25 Cents. 
" Interspersed throughout are capital anecdotes, comic sto- 
ries, and amusing personal adventures; but there is also a 
good deal of political information communicated carelessly, as 
if the writer was not anxious to show that he has thought 
much of the subject. All, therefore, who would peruse the 
most vivid and animating account of the splendid closing 
scenes of the Chinese war, must necessarily resort to Captain 
Cunynghame's volumes." — Foreign Quarterly Review. 




iFORTOWNi COUNTRY g 

^ iPHlLAOElPHIAWi 



GREAT LITERARY ENTERPRISE. 

BOOKS BY MAIL! 

The " Waldie" System Revived by the Original 
Editor. 

The cash system carried to its utmost limit by a reduction 
of one half. 

TEN COPIES FOR §2 50 PER ANNUM EACH ! ! 

On the first of January. 1845, was commenced at Philadel- 
phia the publication of SMITH'S WEEKLY VOLUME, a 
Select Circulating Library for town and country, on the plan 
of VValdie's, at a greatly reduced price, of a large size andjnew 
type. — Conducted by the original, and for the first seven years, 
the sole editor of Waldie's Library, and published by his son. 

The plan embraces the publication of the newest and best 



8 



books in the various departments of Travels, Voyages, Talepi 
Sketches, Biography and Memoirs; in short, the whole range 
of polite literature, and including translations made expressly 
for the work. 

TERMS. 

" The Weekly VolUxME, or Select Circulating Libra- 
ry," is printed on a double super-royal sheet, sixteen pages 
quarto, three columns on each, and mailed weekly with great 
care, so as to carry with perfect safety to the most distant 
post office, 

%* Journal of Belles Lettres. By thus increasing the 
size of the paper, we occupy, without decreasing the quantity 
of book-matter, the two first pages as a Journal of Belles 
Lettres, formerly printed as a cover. 

The whole will be printed and finished with the same care 
and accuracy as book work. The price is four dollars for fifty- 
two numbers of sixteen quarto pages each. 

A club of three for ten dollars, or ^3 33 each. 

A club of five for fifteen dollars, or S3 each. 

A club often for twenty-five dollars, or $2 50 each. 

But in no case can the publication be forwarded, unless the 
order is accompanied with the remittance. 

A specimen number will be forwarded, without charge, to 
all who request it, postage paid. 

LLOYD P. SMITH, Publisher. 

No. 19 St. James' Street, running from 6th to 7th, above 
Market, and directly in the rear of St. James's Church. 

Philadelphia, 1845. 



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